


The More Something Breaks the Stronger it Gets

by SilverEyesAndFallingSnow



Category: Gintama
Genre: AU, Alpha Hijikata, Alpha/Omega, Bonding, Imprisonment, Kidnapping, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Gintoki, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Smut, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2018-09-27 05:18:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9973973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverEyesAndFallingSnow/pseuds/SilverEyesAndFallingSnow
Summary: Hijikata wakes up to a splitting headache only to realize that A, he is in a prison cell, and B, the Yorozuya bastard is passed out next to him. Things escalate from there as the duo find out that they have been kidnapped by amanto for some unknown reason. Of course, if that wasn't enough of a bad situation, mix in some secondary gender issues and everything gets more complicated.





	1. Waking Up With a Headache Doesn't Always Mean You Drank Too Much

**Author's Note:**

> For those who don't know, Alpha/Omega dynamics are where Alpha's are strong, leader types and Omega's are usually seen as weaker and only good for child raising. But as we all know stereotypes rarely convey the whole truth... 
> 
> I don't own any part of Gintama or its characters. Please watch/read the real Gintama and help support that crazy but amazing gorilla author.

Hijikata thought his head was going to split in two. His whole body was heavy and his head was absolutely pounding. Refusing to open his eyes, it took a few seconds of consciousness before he realized he was lying on a cold, hard floor. Slowly he opened his eyes as he tried to figure out exactly where he was. The grey ceiling above him was all he needed to see to know he was not at the barracks.

Realizing something was definitely not right. He quickly sat up, his head spinning from the activity. He surveyed his surroundings, grey metal walls, no furniture, and vertical bars locking him inside the room. It was a cell of some sort that was clear to Hijikata within a few seconds. A rush of anger and panic rose in his throat at the thought of being captured but he swallowed it down, refusing to give in to emotion. He had to stay rational, think logically, if he wanted to escape. Of course that train of thought was completely derailed as he noticed the one other object in the room. Sprawled out, rather ungracefully on the floor behind him rested a familiar permy haired nuisance.

It took one look at the idiot for Hijikata to remember what had happened before he was captured. He and Gintoki had ended up at the same restaurant at the same time again. After exchanging the usual insults and threats, and finishing their respective rice bowls (neither one wanting to back down and leave with an unfinished meal) they had wandered outside still arguing, slightly drunk from drinking at dinner and not paying much attention. Hijikata remembered wandering into an alleyway as they started to get rough with each other, well mostly Hijikata as he slammed Gintoki into a wall in frustration at his stupid blank faced stare, and then suddenly feeling incredibly tiered. Letting go of Gintoki and falling as his knees gave out he recalled seeing a can spewing gas at his feet and three large, non-human, shapes approaching him before falling into unconsciousness.

Absolute rage filled Hijikata at seeing that slack face. He reached instinctively for his sword, wanting to slice the bastard for distracting him enough to fall for a simple trick like sleep gas, only to have his hand pass through air as he realized his trusty sword was not on his hip. _Of course it isn’t there idiot, kidnappers aren’t going to leave you armed are they?_ He thought to himself shaking his head and trying to focus on the here and now. Killing Gintoki in his sleep probably wasn’t the best idea at the moment. He was captured in unfamiliar territory for an unknown reason. The Yorozuya was an annoying piece of shit, but he was also a strong fighter and Hijikata’s only ally at the moment. Sighing he tried to mentally prepared himself to deal with the perm head, knowing full well he had a short temper and would probably revert back to his original plan to kill him. With a frown growing on his face he shuffled over to Gintoki to wake him up. No reason Hijikata should be the only one awake to deal with this shit situation.

“Oi, bastard, wake up” Hijikata said in a gruff voice, shaking one of Gintoki’s shoulders gently.

The total lack of response made one of Hijikata’s eyebrows twitch up in annoyance.

“You better not be ignoring me you white haired freak, wake up” Hijikata said louder, and shook him harder.

Still no response. Slightly concerned now, Hijikata leaned over closer to lightly slap Gintoki’s cheek. The total lack of a reaction made Hijikata stomach twist in nervousness. Quickly he pressed two fingers to Gintoki’s neck, feeling for a pulse. Relaxing at the strong, steady pace of Gintoki’s heartbeat, Hijikata let out a sigh of relief. He then started to examine the unconscious man’s head, wondering if he had hit his head when he had fallen and received a concussion. Running his hands through Gintoki’s hair felt strangely intimate, and he tried to not think about how surprisingly soft the little curls were. Focusing only on his task, he soon concluded that Gintoki was lump, and therefore, probably concussion free.          

Unsure of his next move, he wasn’t a doctor or a field medic; he tried to reason out what to do next. It was only when he had been sitting there for a long moment, just staring at the relaxed face in front of him, he felt the slight movement of Gintoki’s head beneath his hand. Instantly removing his hand he felt a blush creep onto his cheeks. He hadn’t even realized that he still had his hand in the bastard’s hair. He had just sort of relaxed after finding nothing wrong with the man before him. That was ridiculous! _To let my guard down like that so easily, I’m an idiot. So what if the bastard is ok, and happens to smell good today, that’s no excuse..._ Hijikata paused mid rant to analyze what he just thought. _Wait, smells good?_ He thought to himself as he realized how ridiculous that sounded.

He honestly didn’t know where that particular thought had stemmed from. He was no stranger to smelling strange things, he was an Alpha after all. As much as he tried to ignore his secondary gender he wasn’t naïve about that side of him. It came in handy sometimes, being able to smell other people, recognizing each person’s unique scent. However Gintoki smelled different today. Usually he just smelled like sweets and man musk, no surprise there considering his ridiculous diet. Yet today it was different, still sweet, still musk, but also something else.

Shaking his head quickly he set his face back to his usual glare, forgetting the whole thing and focusing on the stirring man before him.

“Wake up dumb ass” Hijikata growled shaking Gintoki’s shoulder once more.

This time he was met with fluttering crimson eyes staring at him. Yet the usual clear but dead eyed look he was used to seeing was gone. Instead the Yorozuya’s eyes were extremely clouded over, almost hazy.

“Hijikata-kun, where…?” he said but stopped half way, eyes falling shut again.

“Oi, none of that, wake up already moron. Enough is enough!” Hijikata said, roughly grabbing Gintoki and forcing him to sit up. At first he slumped again but then his eyes opened and he managed to sit up on his own.

“Oh shit, guess we got captured after all” Gintoki slurred while looking around the room slowly.

“What do you mean after all? And what’s up with you?” Hijikata said trying to keep his voice neutral and resist the urge to shake Gintoki again.

“Well when we got hit by that gas, you dropped like a rock, but I think I got less because I managed to stay on my feet longer. Still was really out of it you know? Tried to fight those three amanto fuckers off but one of them gassed me again up close. Knocked me right out that time…” Gintoki said with a weird half smile.

 _Well that explains a lot_ Hijikata said with an internal sigh. Gintoki was obviously still half out of it due to the double dose of gas. Hijikata was still feeling a little tired himself (although the adrenaline of waking up in a prison cell did wonders to clear his head) so he could only imagine how Gintoki was feeling.

“Anyway Mayora, I’m still a little groggy so I’m just going to fall asleep again” the perm head said, fall backwards again already passed out before he hit the floor.

Hijikata winced at the solid thump of Gintoki’s head on concrete floor. _Idiot_ Hijikata thought to himself wondering why the universe decided to pair him up with that moron. That thought then led him to think about why the three mysterious amanto had kidnapped him and the perm head in the first place. If the goal was to kill him he wouldn’t have been locked up. Also why bother capturing him and Gintoki? Unless they were after Gintoki, but then Hijikata wouldn’t have been captured too. It made no sense. Being the Vice Captain of the Shinsengumi certainly earned him he fair share of enemies but this was more than some angry street thugs wanting revenge for being arrested. That gas they were hit with was no joke. It was really strong, very high grade, and no doubt out of reach for most. So it was more likely the three amanto who captured him were just grunts for some rich figure pulling the strings. That meant his enemy could be amanto or human, there was no real way to tell.

Rubbing his temples slowly he looked at the unconscious man behind him. He knew he was getting nowhere trying to figure it out, he was stuck in this cell, and the chances of him being killed now were slim. If there was some grand scheme behind this it would be a waste to kill them now. A large yawn escaped his lips as the weariness from earlier started to settle back over him. Figuring he needed to be properly rested if he planned on smashing out and escaping latter he laid back down on the floor. In almost no time he fell back asleep.

Waking up a second time, Hijikata felt more like himself. Sitting up he noticed the Yorozuya sitting in front of the bars staring outside the cell. Feeling foolish for not looking around earlier, Hijikata slowly got up and walked over to stand next to Gintoki. The other didn’t turn to look at Hijikata, and he suddenly felt awkward.

Clearing his throat he gruffly asked “so figure out where we are yet? Or are you just contemplating your idiotic existence over here?”

To Hijikata’s surprise, Gintoki actually jumped slightly and turned to face him with a look of concern on his face. But before Hijikata could analyze what he was seeing the concern was quickly replaced by the usual dead eyed blank face Gintoki always had.

In a purposefully annoying drawl Gintoki replied “Why Oogushi-kun, couldn’t you tell as soon as you woke up? But I guess a little lap dog like you wouldn’t know any better”

“Oi, bastard, you want me to finish that fight we started? I would be more than happy to knock you out cold again” Hijikata instantly replied, again reaching for the sword he didn’t carry.

“Relax moron, lighten up. If you really want to know, we are on a spaceship” Gintoki said in a slightly less annoying voice.

“Wait, what? How did that happen? And how can you tell?” Hijikata asked in a stunned voice. If they were really stranded in space, then escaping would be much harder and rescue less likely.

“Well obviously the amanto who knocked us out had a ship or at least the person who they were working for did. And I am surprised you can’t tell we are moving in a ship right now. Guess if you haven’t been on space ships a lot though, you might not recognize the sensation” Gintoki said in a more serious voice.

Sitting down next to Gintoki, Hijikata processed the new information. The space ship thing made sense now that he thought about it. He figured the unease he had been feeling was just residual from the gas but now he associated it with moving though space. And it seemed Gintoki had reasoned out that the amanto who captured them were just grunts for someone else. Despite being a total lazy idiot, Gintoki could think critically now and again. He also seemed to be on the same page regarding the whole not being killed right away thing since he seemed so calm despite the situation.

“Any idea why we were captured?” Hijikata asked.

“Figured they were after you and I just got caught up in it” Gintoki replied in a board voice, then switching to a whinny voice “stupid Mayora getting poor Gin-san caught up in your police problems, you should be ashamed!”

“Shut up moron, unlike some useless perm heads I know I’m an upstanding member of society. If anyone was being targeted it is you for getting into some sort of shady trouble _Yorozuya_ ” Hijikata said angrily, emphasizing the last word of his sentence.

“I run a perfectly good business I’ll have you know!” Gintoki replied in a defensive tone “unlike some mayo obsessed freaks I know who work for a totally corrupt government!”

“You can insult me, you can insult the bakufu” Hijikata replied in a menacing tone “but don’t you dare” he continued as anger filled his voice “insult mayo you sugar obsessed freak!” he finished as he grabbed Gintoki by the shirt and got up in his face.

Gintoki grabbed Hijikata’s jacket and got right up in his face as well, matching his angry voice and replied “Don’t insult sugar you dog food eating, V shaped bangs, bastard!”

Before Hijikata could respond with a similar string of curses, Gintoki quickly let go of Hijikata’s jacket. Surprised Hijikata also let go and watched as Gintoki stood up, and walked to the other side of the room and sat down again with his back facing Hijikata. Confused he just started at Gintoki, wondering what was up with him. It wasn’t like this level of fighting and insulting each other was anything new.

Seeing Gintoki back down like that was strange. Even the usual banter wasn’t really the same as usual. Something was on Gintoki’s mind, something important. But Hijikata new better than to ask. Gintoki was a stubborn bastard, and his neutral expression was fool proof. There was really no way to figure out what was going on in that fluffy idiot’s head. He figured he would just have to wait it out. Gintoki would probably snap out of it soon enough, he wasn’t a fool. It was obvious that if they wanted any chance of getting out of there they both would have to get serious and work together.

Time passed. It was hard to gauge how much exactly since they were stuck in space and the sun was no longer a thing. Hijikata wondered if time units like hours were even existed in space since there was no sun to signal a new day. Gintoki had fallen asleep again soon after pouting in the corner and Hijikata had just stared at him for a long time wondering what the deal was. He had secretly hoped that him and Gintoki would have been able to bust out together, after all he had seen firsthand how strong the Yorozuya could be when he actually tried. But instead the idiot seemed content to just sleep without a care in the world. It pissed Hijikata off big time.

Gintoki woke up at some point. They bickered and traded insults but it still felt a little off. Gintoki was more on edge than normal. His usual calm exterior was not as flawless as normal. Hijikata was on edge too if he was being honest with himself. He wasn’t sure if it was seeing Gintoki of all people nervous, or if it was the situation or something else but it wasn’t good for his health. That much he was sure of.

They were visited once by an amanto who looked similar to a minotaur. It slid a bottle of what sounded like pills and two bottles of water into the cell. The creature explained in rough Japanese that one pill had the roughly the nutritional value of a meal. When Hijikata questioned the amanto about what was going on it merely said that his boss was very interested in the Demon Vice-Chief of the Shinsengumi and the legendary Joi rebel Shiroyasha. It then turned and started to walk away, laughing.

Cursing out the amanto, Hijikata turned to Gintoki expecting him to join in the insults but froze when he saw his face. Gintoki had a frightening look on his face. His face was mostly emotionless like usual, with only the slightest hint of a frown but his eyes were practically glowing red, something fierce lurking there. Hijikata could only guess at what exactly had Gintoki so quiet but angry. But then Gintoki sneezed, he eyes changed back to normal and Hijikata felt himself let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Things only got worse from there. As the day passed (at least it felt like a day) Gintoki got more and more restless. Things came to a head when Hijikata couldn’t take Gintoki’s constant pacing anymore and snapped at him. They argued much more fiercely than usual, and not in their usual lighthearted manor but in real anger. Exhausted again Hijikata turned to face away from the annoying bastard and tried to get to sleep. He was stiff from sleeping on the hard floor though and couldn’t drift off. Rolling over he saw Gintoki wedged into the corner, only wearing his black shirt and pants, curled up around his signature white and blue yukata. It was kind of strange looking, but Hijikata just figured it was the only way Gintoki could get comfortable. Deciding to follow suit (because damn it actually was kind of a good idea to use outer garments as a pillow) Hijikata took off his own jacket and carefully folded it, trying to not cause too many creases in it. Finally he drifted off once more, figuring he was safe for the time being until the ship reached its destination.


	2. One Should Always Pay Attention to the Tags on a Story

When Hijikata woke once more, he felt a huge kink in his neck. He wasn’t lying on his jacket, and when he sat up to look for it, it was nowhere near him. Irritated he looked around the cell, only to freeze when he looked towards the corner where Gintoki was.

Gintoki was still curled up but this time he was curled up with both his yukata and Hijikata’s jacket. But that wasn’t the only strange thing, Gintoki was staring at Hijikata, and it was not a normal look. His eyes were extremely bright, glowing almost, and incredibly wild.

Standing up slowly Hijikata walked towards Gintoki unsure of what was going on.

“I want my jacket back” Hijikata said in a neutral tone, not wanting to set the silver haired man off.

But before he could make it half way across the room, a sharp, menacing growl filled the air and Hijikata froze. His body’s reaction had nothing to do with his instincts as a samurai, and everything to do with his instincts as an Alpha. That growl was a threat, a primal threat from another male beast.

The growl seemed to surprise Gintoki as well because immediately afterwards, his eyes returned to being more normal and his body relaxed slightly.

“Sorry, just don’t come closer” Gintoki said in a raspy voice almost apologetic but still firm.

“What’s going on…” Hijikata started but then stopped when it hit him. He blamed his tar filled lungs and cigarette dulled nose for not picking up on it earlier. But standing there Hijikata could smell that same good smell he had earlier but stronger. He couldn’t help but let out a quiet growl as his Alpha instincts recognized that smell. Omega, and more importantly Omega in preheat.

 Of course his higher functioning brain kicked back in, denying the possibility. Gintoki? An Omega? No way. Not that man. He was classic Alpha, through and through. He was confident, strong, good looking, arrogant and everything else that screamed Alpha. Hijikata always figured part of the reason the two argued so much was because they were both Alphas and couldn’t resist butting heads.

Not to mention how incredibly rare male Omegas were. Hijikata didn’t know the details but apparently around the time he was a kid a series of Omega purges occurred. There was some superstition that male Omegas gave birth to strong samurai and the amanto had decided to wipe out the threat of a future generation of warriors. It wasn’t based in any facts; they just used it as an excuse to massacre innocent civilians. This had been back when the war was just starting out and mass killings were common.

 Despite all that, there was no denying what he was smelling. These were Omega pheromones, mixed with the slightest hint of slick.

“Jesus, Gintoki, you’re an Omega aren’t you? and you’re going into heat” Hijikata said in shock, desperately suppressing his instincts that were screaming at him to go jump the Omega in front of him.

Gintoki seemed to be struggling with a mix of emotions before finally answering “Well just pre-heat but yeah, basically pretty soon I’m either going to kill you or fuck you, I’m not sure.”

Hijikata knew he was seriously in trouble. The signs had been there but he had ignored them. Seeing Gintoki in front of him now, just staring at him intensely Hijikata knew he was in serious, serious trouble. He had learned the basics of the three genders as a kid, picked the rest up from experience. Gintoki had been on edge because he was in an unsafe place, he couldn’t go to his home and he couldn’t make a proper nest. All those things were incredibly important to an Omega. It was obvious now that Gintoki had been trying to suppress his panic but with the heat starting soon he just couldn’t keep it all in.

So he chose the corner, and used the little material he could to build the best nest he could. It wasn’t enough, obviously, and that made him really unstable. An upset and angry Omega in heat was probably one of the most dangerous things Hijikata knew. At least most Omegas were smaller in stature and a strong Alpha could subdue them if necessary. But if Gintoki was the Omega in question, well, if Hijikata was being honest, he didn’t know if he could fight him off. Gintoki was ridiculously strong, well versed in hand to hand combat and add raging hormones to that, Hijikata wasn’t so sure he could win. And if they did fight, it wouldn’t end until either Gintoki was over his heat or one of them was dead. Since most heats lasted anywhere from a few days to a week, the first option was wishful thinking.

Of course there was a second possibility, and that was that Gintoki would accept him into his nest and just the mere thought of that made Hijikata’s heart race about three times faster. That was what his instincts were screaming at him to do, to go and subdue the Omega, claim the Omega. Hijikata tried to shut out those thoughts, even as the pheromones in the room started to make his head spin and certain extremities tingle.

“Why aren’t you on suppressants? Are you at least on contraceptives?” Hijikata asked, trying to not think about fucking the man in front of him like an animal.

“Like I could afford that shit, stupid. I could barely afford that damn scent canceling soap” Gintoki said but his mocking voice held a slight quiver underneath.

“How long till your heat starts?” Hijikata asked as he fought to think rationally again.

“Don’t know, probably soon, though all those damn pheromones your releasing aren’t really helping” Gintoki said with a sneer.

“Ha, like your one to talk. You have no clue what you smell like right now Yorozuya” Hijikata said, focusing on the anger of their quarreling to stay anchored.

“At least I can’t help it, you’re the one smelling all aroused, you want me that bad do you Oogushi-kun?”  Gintoki said sounding much more like his usual self.

“As if I would ever want to be with a naturally wavy haired freak like you, please” Hijikata spat but secretly he was feeling much more in control.

Despite the arguing, the tension in the room started to dissipate as both males came down from their pheromone highs. Hijikata watched as Gintoki shook his head once, and seemed to finally snap out of it. Standing up he looked down at the sad little pile of clothes and stepped out of his nest. Hijikata didn’t miss how Gintoki was still very careful not to bump either article of clothing. He may have calmed down, but he was still apparently a slave to instinct.

Now that they were mostly back to normal again, Hijikata was at a loss for words. They needed to talk about this but he didn’t know where to start. He was surprised at the lack of Omega scent coming from Gintoki now. It was there but it was very mild now that the wave of pre-heat hormones had passed.

“So you’re an Omega huh, I would never of guessed. I’ve never smelled it on you before” Hijikata said in a neutral tone, trying not to sound nervous.

“Yeah I was just born lucky I guess” Gintoki replied sarcastically “but actually I am pretty lucky because I have never really radiated scent like most Omega’s, it is only during pre-heat and heat that I actually do. That is the only time I bother with that scent canceling soap since it is so expensive”

Well that explained why Hijikata had never realized Gintoki’s second gender but a whole new wave of questions filled his head. Hijikata was a strategist. Sure he was a natural fighter, and he loved to lose himself in the heat of a fight, but he also loved to plan out every raid before hand, accounting for every possibility he could, figuring out the best way to attack. He knew his knowledge of Omegas wasn’t very good, and in this situation he needed all the information he could get.

  “So um…” Hijikata awkwardly started, unsure of how to approach this “could you explain the, uh… process… of your heat?” Hijikata asked trying to be as tactful as possible.

Gintoki just stared at him and Hijikata could almost see him debating in his head whether or not to be an asshole about it or be serious. Finally Gintoki sighed and sat down next to Hijikata.

Running a hand through his hair Gintoki replied “I’m guessing you’re not asking about the purpose or anything like that?”

“Obviously not, I know the basics, I just want more detail. How many days are we talking? And how rational will you be during those days? Also what kind of state will you be in afterwards?” Hijikata replied trying to keep his voice professional and remaining focused on asking questions.

Gintoki just snorted but it wasn’t in a mocking way, “Five days easily, possibly longer. And as far as rationality goes, it depends on a lot of things. Heats often hit with differing severity, sometimes I stay lucid most of the time. However if it hits me hard, then I won’t remember a damn thing” pausing suddenly, Gintoki did a strange thing. He leaned over and took a deep sniff of Hijikata near his neck.

Leaning back he then continued as if nothing weird had just happened, “yeah, its definitely going to hit me hard, it’s been a long time since I have had to deal with a heat while an Alpha is around, not since the war and all…” and then Gintoki froze as he realized what he just admitted.  

Hijikata was just as stunned, not only had Gintoki just offered up information about his past, and the war no less, but it raised a whole new slew of questions. He hadn’t even considered what it must have been like to be an Omega in a long, brutal war. Despite his curiosity Hijikata knew that if he wanted Gintoki to continue he needed to drop any questions about the war otherwise Gintoki would just close up and they would get nowhere.

“Ok, so what about my last question? What state will you be in after the fact?” Hijikata asked despite his mind was racing with very different questions.

Gintoki let out a short, humorless laugh before answering “you really don’t know much do you? Heats are brutal; dehydration and malnutrition are just the start. There is also physical and mental exhaustion. Not to mention hormone imbalances and other crap that screws with thinking for awhile after a heat. Omega bodies are made for that shit but it still takes a huge toll. There're not very fun”.

That was great, just great. Hijikata wasn’t sure what to take from that. Obviously this was no situation to be having a heat in. Frustrated he felt his fingers twitching for a cigarette he didn’t have while he was trying to figure out what to do.

“Ok so is there any way to stop it from happening or delay it?” he asked trying not to sound too worried.

 At that Gintoki flat out laughed. The sudden sharp sound made Hijikata jump a little in surprise. “Oh come on, you should know the answer to that! Didn’t you say you knew the basics?”

Pissed at the arrogant attitude Hijikata snapped back “Shut up, it’s not like I have to deal with Omegas often ok? There are no Omegas in the Shinsengumi and it just doesn’t come up much. So just answer the question!”

“Hijikata, normally a heat can’t be stopped. There is one exception, when the purpose of the heat is fulfilled for an unmarked Omega” Gintoki answered seriously.

“What is that supposed to mean” Hijikata replied in a huffy tone still feeling horribly uncomfortable and unable to show it besides being angry.

Shaking his head slowly Gintoki responded “man your dense, like seriously how could someone with such a strong Alpha gene not get this? Basically if an unmarked Omega is mated, ie marked and knotted, the heat will subside because its purpose was served”.

 It took a second before Hijikata fully understood what Gintoki was getting at.

“Oi, wait a second, what are you trying to suggest?” he asked trying not to let the sudden nervousness he felt show through in his voice.

“I’m just laying out the facts like you asked, I’m not trying to get at anything” Gintoki said defensively.

Hijikata just stared at Gintoki dumbstruck. The possibility had been tickling at the back of his head ever since he realized Gintoki was an Omega but hearing it straight out of Gintoki’s mouth made it much more real. He wasn’t sure if Gintoki was being mocking or serious at the moment and the idiot was a master at keeping his emotions out of his face. Hijikata was good at reading people but Gintoki was the one annoying exception to that. Was he actually saying that they should mate? Just thinking it made Hijikata cringe as he conveniently forgot how turned on he had been earlier. The idea was ridiculous wasn’t it?

“Look” Gintoki said as Hijikata had a mild freak out in his head, “I am going to be totally upfront with you. Heats are a total bitch, in fact, there awful. I’ve been shot and stabbed more times than a care to count, but a heat hurts in a different way. There is no sense of numbness or blacking out like a grave injury. More importantly there is a total lack of control. We are both adults here right? It’s not hard to figure out what will happen when my heat starts….”

Hijikata opened his mouth to protest but Gintoki continued ahead without pause “I don’t even want to hear your protests. I knew good men back in the war with strong wills and with strong Alpha genes and I’ll tell you now that the factor that won out was instinct not reason. I still regret that I had to kill a few of my own in self defense even if I don’t remember it because it was during a haze. The point is that this is going to turn R rated real quick one way or another. If it turns out that I don’t try to kill you while I am out of my mind I think ending my heat as soon as possible is the best choice. I don’t particularly think either of us wants to be heavily distracted for the next several days, am I right?”

If Hijikata was having a mild freak out earlier he was straight up dumbfounded now. Gintoki wasn’t an open person, ever. Yet here he was offering up parts of his past and he true emotions. Sure he was trying to stay as matter of fact about it as possible but Hijikata could still hear the worry in his voice. It was easy to blame it all on hormones and such but there was undoubtedly an element of trust there too. The real question was why. Why would Gintoki put himself in such a vulnerable position? It did seem like the best choice but still, he was offering to be claimed and marked. Basically he was submitting to Hijikata.

It shocked him completely and he would be lying if he didn’t find that idea slightly a turn on too, or maybe that was just his instincts talking. Regardless Hijikata couldn’t help but feel respect for Gintoki. It didn’t happen often, usually he saw the perm head as nothing but an irresponsible dumb ass but every once in a while he would say or do something that Hijikata couldn't help but admire. This was one of those times, he was being both future thinking and mature. Realizing that it was inevitable and dealing with consent issues before hand was a smart move. Hijikata was a police officer after all and he had worked on dozens of Omega rape cases and was well aware that many more happened and most Omegas were just too ashamed or embarrassed to come forward.  _Damn, I can’t say no, as crazy as it is, it is still probably the best option._ Plus he would be lying if the thought didn’t excite him just a little, although that was easy to also blame on primal instinct.

“Wait, aren’t you jumping to a few conclusions? You seem pretty sure that we won’t just try to kill one other. Where is that confidence coming from?” Hijikata asked, and yes it was sort of avoiding answering Gintoki but he wanted to know the answer to this first.

Sighing, Gintoki glared and jerked his thumb behind him, pointing to the sad excuse of a nest in the corner, “You know damn well that I can’t stand that stupid face and annoying personality of yours but it should also be obvious that despite that, I still like your smell. Although it’s probably just because of instincts and your stupid strong Alpha gene or whatever…”

Hijikata could feel heat in his cheeks, let Gintoki think it was due to anger from his insults but really it was something else completely. Was he embarrassed? Flattered? He didn’t know for sure but he be damned before he let Gintoki know how much that little fact affected him.

“So what you’re saying is…” Hijikata started before Gintoki cut in.

“What I’m saying is an Omega attacks any foreign Alpha once they go into heat. But if they already are used to that Alpha they are far more likely to accept them.”

“Ok, that’s good I guess” Hijikata replied, realizing just how much he didn’t know about Omegas.

“If it means that one of us doesn’t die then yeah I’d say it’s a good thing Mayora” Gintoki replied, but the usual mocking tone he used when calling Hijikata a nick name was missing, instead he just sounded tiered.

He continued “anyway now that that is all sorted and Gin-san has educated the poor ignorant Alpha on the ways of the Omega, I’m going to take this chance to get a little more shut eye in”.

Before Gintoki could get up to leave Hijikata quickly told him to wait and proceeded to take off his scarf.

“Here” he said, handing the white cloth to Gintoki without meeting his eyes “I can’t offer much but you can use this to help build up your nest a little more, I at least know that much about Omegas”.

Gintoki just stared at it and Hijikata was worried that he wouldn’t accept it but then he gingerly took the scarf and mumbled a thanks before heading back to his corner. Hijikata watched as he put the cloth towards the top of the nest before laying down and seemingly passing out.

He almost wanted to laugh at how quickly the sugar freak fell asleep. He had just assumed all the sleeping was due to Gintoki being lazy but now it was clear that it was just his body getting ready of the strain of a heat. That didn’t really explain why Hijikata had been feeling sleepy too. Usually he would be bouncing off the walls by now, he didn’t do inactivity well but laying there he felt himself drifting off. Maybe it was the sensation of constantly moving through space like how car rides put people to sleep. Or maybe it was his body reacting to the subtle smell of the perm heads pre-heat this whole time. Or maybe it just boiled down to an easy way for the author to progress the time (wait what was that?). Anyway regardless, sleep came to him as he tried to not think about the future, just this once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that happened... I promise there is more to the plot than this but I couldn't help but indulge myself a little. I feel like I am kind of in uncharted territory here since there really isn't much Alpha/Omega fan fic for these two. Hopefully you don't find it completely horrible. Sorry it's a little dialogue heavy but I promise the next chapter will have much more action, if you know what I mean...
> 
> Also don't forget, consent is important (and like drinking tea*)
> 
> *Bonus points for anyone who gets the reference, your probably in college, and if it is anything like my school you had to watch that video like 3 freaking times...


	3. The More Stubborn You Are the Faster Things Tend To Escalate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heat...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a side note this was definitely the hardest chapter to write by far. Turns out smut is hard, like really hard to write...

Something was tickling Hijikata’s neck. He woke up slowly, feeling surprisingly peaceful considering how stressed out he had been earlier. One by one little details started to register with him. The pleasant feeling of being warm after days of sleeping on a cold concrete floor. The smell of something sweet but masculine, a paradox he didn’t feel like figuring out at the moment. The gentle whoosh of someone breathing while asleep, _wait what?_ It was then that Hijikata realized that he was not alone on the floor. Quickly opening his eyes he saw nothing but white and black, but quickly worked out what he was actually looking at. It was Gintoki curled up against Hijikata, his head buried into Hijikata’s chest. Gintoki’s curly white hair was brushing up against Hijikata’s neck, explaining the tickling sensation from earlier.

Hijikata was confused, then embarrassed then angry. He wasn’t sure how he had ended up in the corner with the sugar freak but despite the growing irritation he couldn’t make himself move. Some part of him was immensely happy at the sight of the man curled up into his chest. As soon as Hijikata processed that particular thought he freaked a little. He tried to move then and get some distance between them, but Gintoki made an unhappy noise and grabbed on tighter.

“Wake up perm head and let go of me” Hijikata growled, even if he didn’t entirely want that.

Gintoki sat up then, blinking slowly as he took in the situation, until a small smile crept across his face “why good morning Oogushi-kun, isn’t this a pleasant surprise”.

“Dumbass there is no such thing as morning when there is no sun” Hijikata grumbled, fighting to sound normal and not stutter.

With a lopsided smile Gintoki replied “I know that, I just figured that greeting would piss you off the most. Seems like it worked. Or is that flush on your face from something else?”

“Shut up, I just woke up to you cuddling up with me” Hijikata said, trying his best to ignore how stunningly red and clear Gintoki’s eyes were compared to how dull they usually were, “I wasn’t the one getting snuggly all of a sudden” Hijikata replied with a mocking sneer.

“Ah that may be true but we are in my corner which means you’re the one who moved to me” Gintoki said with his usual irritating tone, but then switched to a deeper tone and continued “but that’s not such a bad thing is it?”

Hijikata was about to argue back but Gintoki closed the gap between them, nuzzling into Hijikata’s neck, right at the Alpha’s sent gland “god you smell good” Gintoki said a moment later, leaning back slightly.

Hijikata’s whole body was shaking as he kept his fists clenched to his side, despite the urge to grab Gintoki and close that gap again. Because holy shit Gintoki had been way more seductive than he was probably trying to be.

“Why did you think giving me your scarf was a good idea? Do you have any idea how strong that thing smells of you? It was pretty distracting when I was trying to fall asleep” Gintoki practically purred staring at Hijikata so intensely it was almost unnerving.

Hijikata hadn’t even given it a second thought when he handed the article of clothing over, just thinking it was the least necessary piece of clothing he had and easiest to spare. He wanted to groan with embarrassment as he realized his mistake; of course the scarf would be positively saturated with his scent.

Hijikata was about to reply when something changed in Gintoki’s face. The easy going smirk was quickly replaced as Gintoki leaned over and grunted in pain. Before Hijikata could ask what was wrong the atmosphere in the room changed. Hijikata was hit with a strong wave of Omega pheromones. Hijikata made himself scoot back even as his instincts screamed at him to do the opposite.

Gintoki looked up and the pure need on his face was enough to get Hijikata hot in all kinds of ways.

“Gintoki” Hijikata started unsure of what to say until he was interrupted by the white haired samurai.

“Yeah, I’m starting my heat, obviously, so just help me end it ok?” Gintoki asked and Hijikata couldn’t believe how hard it was to not jump him then.

However one thing was still causing Hijikata to hold back, it had been bugging him since the start of all this “But what about the bond? Are you really ok with that?”

A bond was just so intimate, not to mention potentially permanent. Sex out of necessity was one thing but a bond…

“It’s fine, if the two involved aren’t a close match it can be broken. Honestly I don’t care just get over here, don’t make me beg Alpha” Gintoki wined as he started to pant slightly.

Of course hearing that sent Hijikata right to the edge. His mind was screaming at him, _Omega, Omega in heat, fertile Omega in heat, ridiculously strong fertile Omega in heat, must take him, must make him mine_ but Hijikata was trying his best to not act on those thoughts.

But even as he stopped his hands from reaching out towards the Omega so close to him, he couldn’t stop his scent glands from releasing his own pheromones into the air. The strong sent of Alpha filled the air and Hijikata had to dig his fingernails into his palms to stop himself from pouncing on Gintoki, as he watched the Omega’s eyes start to turn hazy and his body squirm as the heat took him over, no doubt accelerated by the strong Alpha scent that hung in the room.

Hijikata still wasn’t sure what Gintoki’s reaction would be. As the heat fully took Gintoki over, he seemed to forget about Hijikata for a moment and instead started to strip. Hijikata watched, shaking from the effort of holding back as Gintoki proceeded take his shirt off exposing his broad muscular chest. Hijikata tried to keep his eyes there and not at the very prominent bulge that was growing in those tight black pants the Yorozuya always wore.

Instead of taking them off however, he started to rut into the ground, moaning and grunting in a way that had Hijikata panting equally hard as Gintoki. The smell of slick was already filling the room and it was absolutely divine. Hijikata licked his lips, staring, but still not moving. He watched as Gintoki sniffed his makeshift nest, before stopping at Hijikata’s scarf, and then rubbing his face into it. Even from across the room Hijikata could hear the content purring.

Hijikata growled, he couldn’t help himself, it wasn’t a threat, it was a declaration, an announcement that he was there, that he was an Alpha who wanted to claim the Omega. Gintoki froze, and turned to look at Hijikata. Whatever Hijikata was expecting, it wasn’t glowing red eyes and a flushed, aroused face. There had still been a chance that Gintoki would attack, but seeing that face, Hijikata knew that wasn’t what Gintoki wanted. Hijikata felt his control slipping terrifyingly fast.

“Alpha” Gintoki said in a husky voice, so unlike anything Hijikata had heard him say before “Come here Alpha, I want you… ” Gintoki demanded.

Hijikata knew damn well this wasn’t really Gintoki, this was a lust filled beast, running on primal instinct. Yet he couldn’t get those words out of his mind. Standing there, listing to Gintoki of all people, demanding to be fucked… Well, Hijikata for the first time in his life turned off his rational brain and let his instincts take over.

Screw the situation he was in, he was an Alpha and the most amazing Omega he had ever seen was right in front of him. He would be damned if he didn’t act. Besides he wasn’t about to let the bastard start making all the calls and take control. The perm head still annoyed the shit out of him, but Hijikata was the Alpha and he was determined to prove it.

One second Hijikata was a few feet away, then the next he was inside Gintoki’s nest, pressing the silver haired man up against the wall. Lips met lips and Hijikata let out a deep rumble as Gintoki melted into him, opening his mouth so that Hijikata could thrust his tongue in and taste. It was unreal, the feel of those soft lips, the taste of something sweet, the firm, wide chest pressed up to his. Gintoki was all muscle and power, but almost submissive, yet still demanding, his moans begging for more.

Hijikata’s inner Alpha screamed that he take control, so he deepened the kiss, trapping Gintoki between him and the wall, one hand buried in the soft white perm and the other holding a wrist against the wall. It was almost like a fight, all adrenaline and instinct, both males fighting for some sort of upper hand.

Hijikata knew it was wrong, knew Gintoki would never be even slightly submissive like this, hell he was more a sadist than anything. However his thoughts disappeared as Gintoki’s hips bucked and Hijikata felt the press of cock to cock. Hijikata pulled back looking at Gintoki, like a predator his prey.

“Just hurry up already, we both know what I need so just get to it” Gintoki said with an inpatient voice, eyes filled with lust and pain.

Hijikata covered Gintoki’s lips in a kiss to shut him up but only for an instant before moving to his neck, leaving a string of kisses before whispering into his ear “what makes you think you get to tell me what to do, _Omega._ ”

He then moved to Gintoki’s sent gland at the base of his neck, and gave it the lightest scrape of teeth, not enough to break skin just a tease of things to come.

Hijikata felt Gintoki shiver under him, while the white haired man was distracted by the sensation; Hijikata moved his hands south and worked on undoing the button of Gintoki’s pants.

“Pretty big words, _Alpha_. What exactly are you planning to do when you still have all your clothes on?” Gintoki said mockingly while using his now free hands to tug at Hijikata’s vest.

Hijikata couldn’t argue with that, and for the first time, Hijikata actually hated the dress code for the Shinsengumi, honestly how many layers did he need to wear? Hijikata wanted to just rip the stuff off but somewhere in the back of his head he knew they probably shouldn’t destroy the only set of clothes they had.  

Hijikata abandoned Gintoki’s pants in favor of getting his own vest and shirt off. One look at Gintoki’s impatient face told him that if he didn’t get the clothes off himself Gintoki would do it for him, and Hijikata doubted they would survive in that scenario.

As soon as his shirts were off, the two men clashed back together like the opposite poles of a magnet. Lips met once more, tongues darted back and forth, and teeth nibbled at lips. Hijikata was too focused on getting Gintoki’s pants off to complain when Gintoki began to return the favor. There was a slight pause as both men quickly shimmied out of their pants and Hijikata took in the sight before him.

Hijikata thought his brain was going to short circuit. Gintoki, the lazy perm head he constantly fought with was standing before him, naked, and undoubtedly was the most attractive thing he had ever seen. Gintoki was all pale skin and toned muscle. Scars of various sizes and patterns were scattered about his body, proof of battles fought and won. Hijikata’s eyes caught on the silver happy trail and he followed it down, registering in the back of his brain that the Yorozuya’s hair was indeed naturally white. Of course that led him farther down and he sucked in a breath at the sight of Gintoki’s member standing tall. 

Hijikata couldn’t help the rumble that built in his chest and came out of his throat. He heard a similar noise of approval from Gintoki, although it was more of a purr for the Omega. It was that mutual sound of attraction that snapped Hijikata out of the semi memorized state he had been in.

The third time the two met Hijikata decisively took the lead. He pushed the silver haired man down on the ground and began kissing his neck. He worked his way down, relishing the feeling of Gintoki trembling below him. When Hijikata reached the Omega’s scent gland he gave it a lick and moaned from the taste and smell. It was almost overwhelming enough to make him feel drunk. Gintoki’s answering moan was so lewd Hijikata couldn’t help but buck his hips. The feel of Gintoki’s answering hardness was enough motivation for Hijikata to speed things up a little.

He moved down Gintoki’s chest and began to suck at his hard nipples. While his mouth was occupied with alternating between gently biting the pink buds and licking at the small scars surrounding them, he wrapped his hand around Gintoki’s length and began to pump. Hijikata quickly decided he liked the sound of Gintoki’s gasps and began to bite harder and pump faster. The silver haired man came almost immediately but even as he shook from orgasm, he remained completely hard.

Hijikata had been expecting that, he remembered hearing somewhere that most Omegas in heat came six or seven before there erection would start to fade. It was important for Omegas to get plenty of foreplay in order to relieve some of the pressure. At that moment all Hijikata wanted was to pleasure the man below him, his instincts demanding he take care of his Omega.

As Gintoki came a second time, Hijikata looked up at his face. Their eyes met and the sight of the perm head completely undone, pupils wide and cheeks flushed, quickly reminded Hijikata of how painfully hard he was as well.

“Enough… teasing” Gintoki panted as he came down from his second orgasm “just get to the… main part… already, or are you waiting… for me… to do it myself?”

Hijikata wasn’t naive enough to not know what the perm head was getting at “don’t even think about it” he growled as he let go of Gintoki’s length and moved his hand down lower “I wanna watch you come from me using my fingers.”

“You think you’re that good?” Gintoki shot back composing himself enough to give a challenging smirk.

It was that insufferable grin that caused Hijikata to press into Gintoki while replying “we will just have to see about that, wont we?”

For all that talk, Gintoki let out a deep groan of pleasure as Hijikata started to work him open. The raven haired man trembled in anticipation as he felt the insides of the man below him. Gintoki was tight and hot, but his finger slide in and out easily due to all the slick that was leaking out of him. The smell was amazing and Hijikata couldn’t help but lick his lips.

 He leaned down and started to lick at Gintoki’s right thigh while inserting a second finger. The taste was electrifying and he greedily tasted more as he started to scissor his fingers inside Gintoki. The ring of muscle was relaxing quickly, and Hijikata kept moving his tongue up, skipping past the white haired man’s entrance in favor of tasting his shaft.       

Encouraged by the needy moans coming from Gintoki, Hijikata took Gintoki’s length into his mouth and began sucking. The taste was bitter from the last time Gintoki came, but Hijikata found himself enjoying it regardless. Hijikata took the opportunity to insert a third finger and the sound of pleasure Gintoki made was all the warning he got before Gintoki came a third time, right into Hijikata’s mouth. Surprised Hijikata swallowed it down by reflex to avoid choking.

“Bastard” Hijikata said as he removed his mouth from the still hard length and glared at the Yorozuya, “you could have warned me.”

Gintoki gave a short, breathless laugh “that’s what you get for cheating and using your fingers and mouth asshole.”

“I don’t recall ever specifying that I would only use my fingers” Hijikata snapped back before grinning menacingly, “but if you’re so upset about it, why don’t I show you how I can make you come without using my mouth.”    

“About fucking time” Gintoki growled but there was a slight tone of desperation underneath it.

Hijikata removed his fingers and didn’t miss the slight wine at the loss Gintoki made. Using his now slick covered hand he gave himself a few pumps along his aching swollen shaft. He positioned himself in front of Gintoki’s entrance but didn’t push in. Hesitating for the first time since they started he looked up at Gintoki, unsure if this was really the right thing to do.

Their eyes met, crystal blue and bright red. Hijikata could see the lust and pain and need in Gintoki’s eyes but beyond that, buried behind the haze of desire he saw the faintest shimmers of trust.

Something twisted in Hijikata’s chest from that look. That impossible trust gave him the courage to press into Gintoki. Hijikata gasped at the sensation, the heat and tightness were unlike anything he could have imagined. Deeper he plunged, relishing how the Omega seemed to pull him in greedily. When he was finally buried completely he remained still, fighting to keep himself from coming right there.

Before Hijikata could fully collect himself, Gintoki started to rock himself on Hijikata’s shaft. Hijikata growled in irritation, leave it to the perm head to try and take control despite the position he was in. Something snapped in Hijikata, something primal, and he began to thrust into Gintoki. The white haired man began to moan and mumble in pleasure wrapping his legs around Hijikata, trying to pull him in deeper. Again and again Hijikata pounded into that heat, and it didn’t take long for him to find Gintoki’s prostate. As soon as he felt that first jolt from Gintoki, he ruthlessly attacked the sensitive bundle of nerves.

Hijikata watched as the man beneath him squirmed and panted in pleasure. Hijikata was captivated, watching Gintoki’s muscles flex and relax, feeling that strength below him, around him. All he could think was _he’s the perfect mate, the perfect strong mate_ there was no way there was any other Omega like Gintoki. Hijikata kept moving, matching that strength with his own, until Gintoki finally came, spilling over himself. At the lewd sight Hijikata felt his own climax quickly approaching and pounded into the man twice as fast chasing it.

“Alpha, I want your knot, hurry up and knot me already” Gintoki demanded between moans and pants.

As Hijikata felt his knot start to swell he pressed into Gintoki as deeply as he could, burying himself in that tight heat. He came almost immediately, spilling his seed deep inside Gintoki. Hijikata had never orgasmed so hard in his life and it felt like he just kept coming forever.  As the feeling of warmth filled him, Gintoki came once more as well, full out yelling in pleasure. The sensation of Gintoki clamping down on his swollen knot was enough to send Hijikata into a second; shorter lived but equally intense orgasm. It felt like Gintoki was milking his shaft for every last drop of cum he had as he spilled into Gintoki a second time.

Both men were breathing hard as they rode out their respective highs. It took a moment for Hijikata to collect himself enough to think and a few more until he was able to speak.

“Gintoki…” was all he needed to say before the Omega was turning his head to the side, bearing his throat to the Alpha.

It didn’t matter if it was instinct and hormones or because they had to or something else all together. At that moment Hijikata wanted Gintoki. He lowered his head and bit down on the scent gland, drawing blood, and claiming the Omega. Gintoki was his Omega and his alone.

 _Mine, mine, mine, mine_ Hijikata thought again and again as he sucked at the bite, leaving a nice bruise to highlight the teeth marks.    

Leaning back he was surprised to find Gintoki staring at him. His eyes were still hazy but not as much as before. A soft smile crept across Gintoki’s face, but unlike the previous ones, this one was tender. For the first time, Hijikata was seeing Gintoki’s face completely unguarded. Afraid to speak and shatter the moment Hijikata just watched as Gintoki’s eyelids started to flutter and the man fell asleep.

Hijikata felt like laughing. Here he was, cock still buried balls deep into the moron’s ass and he was sleeping perfectly content. Yet he all he felt was affection for that very moron. He shifted Gintoki and himself on their sides to try and get more comfortable. He would have to wait for his knot to go down and figured he won’t be able to pull out unless he relaxed. He closed his eyes, and started to drift to sleep himself, soothed by the breathing of the man beside him. _My man, my perfect Omega_ he thought as he fell asleep with a smile.

Of course waking up some undefined point later to Gintoki wiping at his ass with his black tee-shirt, cleaning up the mess from their previous activities, was both hot and nerve racking at the same time. The heat was over now that Gintoki had been marked and knotted, the heat serving its purpose. Now that pheromones and instinct weren’t clouding Hijikata’s mind, the shock of what he had done settled over him.

Gintoki’s face remained neutral like usual as he cleaned himself. The sight of Gintoki naked was enough to get Hijikata half hard again. He couldn’t help himself as he watched those muscles flex and remembered the feeling of them under his hands. Again it blew Hijikata’s mind that this man before him was an Omega, and now his Omega. Hijikata couldn’t stop himself from letting out some aroused pheromones and Gintoki immediately stopped what he was doing to look over at him.

They had no blankets and neither was clothed so there was no hiding. Not that Hijikata wanted to hide but the sight of him half hard was pretty embarrassing.

Gintoki just stared at Hijikata in silence for a moment and Hijikata felt his erection fade a bit as the nerves of what Gintoki would say hit him. Finally just when Hijikata couldn’t bare the silence Gintoki let out a short laugh.

“From the look of you I guess you had a pretty good time huh?” he said in a much more subdued voice than normal. “I honestly can’t remember much, I never can when a heat hits me like that.”

Guilt swamped Hijikata. Gintoki wasn’t submissive and he wasn’t quiet. Hijikata knew Gintoki was having conflicting emotions, and that he was responsible. They may have agreed to it before hand, but that didn’t change the fact that this wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for the situation they were in.

Hijikata let out a little whine. It wasn’t very Alpha of him but he couldn’t help himself. He was not sure if it was the guilt, the new sense of protectiveness he felt towards Gintoki, or just the awkwardness of the situation, but he felt uncomfortable and even worse was seeing his Omega upset.

“Stop that Hijikata, I know it wasn’t your fault that we got kidnapped right before my heat. All things considered this was the best option…” Gintoki trailed off as he slumped down to the floor.

Hijikata scooted over to Gintoki slowly, ready to back off if Gintoki even flinched. But he didn’t so Hijikata softly pressed their foreheads together, afraid to look Gintoki in the eye but wanting his full attention all the same.

“I am sorry it all spiraled out of control. Don’t blame yourself, the heat wasn’t your choice and I’m glad it turned out the way it did instead of us fighting it out. I don’t regret our choices, and I want to do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t either” Hijikata said softly.

Gintoki snorted and for once Hijikata didn’t find it annoying in the slightest. “What are you even talking about moron? You should know better that to make an open ended promise like that to me. I’ll demand nothing short of three parfaits a day and the first copy of jump each week. Although I guess if it had to be anyone, being stuck with an uptight, asshole Alpha like you is ok.”

Hearing Gintoki banter lifted Hijikata’s sprits and he replied “Guess an idiotic perm head for my Omega isn’t the absolute worst thing in the world”.

Gintoki laughed, and then the laugh turned to a purr as he rubbed his nose against Hijikata’s. Also immediately he stopped and pulled back, a light flush on his pale cheeks. Hijikata couldn’t help the swarm of affection at the action even as Gintoki roughly shoved him off.

“Stop getting all Alpha on me Hijikata-kun, especially right after my heat. It makes my head get all Omega, and I’ve had more than enough of that for awhile” he said in a slightly pissed and embarrassed voice.

Hijikata nodded his head in agreement. He was enjoying pulling this new side of Gintoki out. But if he was being honest he preferred the loud annoying Gintoki that drove him nuts most of the time. He knew he was in trouble, the bond probably screwing with his head when he stared and thought this was his mate, his _mate._

“Come on, help me find my pants, I’m getting tired of being bare ass naked and I don’t want that damn guard to come back and see my Gintoki Jr hanging out, you know?” Gintoki said in his usual annoying voice.

But instead of yelling or making a snippy comeback, Hijikata got up and helped look around for the pants. Oh yes he was definitely in trouble as all he could think was _I’ll protect my Omega, I’ll do whatever I can to make him happy._     

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's that. Now the real question is will the tender feelings last? Spoiler - nope. Also next chapter is from Gintoki's perspective so there's that to look forward to.
> 
> Also thank you so much everyone for all the kudos and comments! Every time I see a new comment I get inspired to write more. I can't believe I already have over 60 kudos, you all are the best!


	4. Why is it When You Want to Look Into the Future You Get Stuck in the Past Instead?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, a chapter from Gintoki's point of view

As Gintoki got dressed he did his best not to let his hands shake. The panic he had felt at waking up next to Hijikata, bare ass naked, cuddling up to the police officer, had nearly given him a heart attack. He thought he knew what to expect as his mind had drifted away from him as the heat took over, but thinking he knew and waking up to up to that mayo obsessed freak’s sleeping face and the feeling of cum and slick dripping out of his ass were two very different things.  

As he pulled his yukata back on (his black shirt too dirty to wear now), the white cloth brushed over his tender neck. He winced slightly at the pain, but more from the mental shock. Not only had he let Hijikata knot him, but he had also let him mark him. And one look at Hijikata’s neck told him that he hadn’t returned the favor.

That pissed Gintoki off, he didn’t like the idea that Hijikata had claimed him but Gintoki hadn’t marked him back. It made Gintoki feel subservient. That wasn’t ok, Omega status be damned, Gintoki didn’t let anyone control him. But if he wanted the chance to get Hijikata back, they would need to go for another round and Gintoki wasn’t really ready for that. Perverted nature aside, Gintoki had actually never slept with an Alpha before. Not even during the war had he let his closest friends in that close.

Of course thinking about the war just brought back a storm of memories and bitter emotions. Gintoki was still a little over emotional as the lingering effects of the heat messed with his head. The pain must have been clear on his face because Hijikata was next to him in a second asking what was wrong.

“Back off Hijikata, just because you marked me doesn’t mean you need to act like it meant anything” Gintoki replied quickly trying his best to not let any of his insecurities show in his voice.

Gintoki felt like Hijikata’s deep blue eyes were staring right through his façade. What was with that? Gintoki had always been able to hide his emotions; it was one of his greatest strengths. Yet here he was, with Hijikata of all people, wanting to sit down and bleed his heart out. He blamed it on the stupid mark. He had heard that it could mess with people’s thoughts especially an Omega, made them more dependent on their Alpha. It was easier to blame it on that than the alternative.

“Look Gintoki, can we just talk? I mean we can’t really just pretend that everything is still the same. At least tell me what that look of pain was all about? Is it because of what I did? Are you regretting it?” Hijikata asked in a tentative voice.

Gintoki felt like an ass, here Hijikata was trying to be honest and Gintoki was trying to shut him out. At this point in his life it was second nature to hide any pain or weakness. It was memories of his own messed up past that had made Gintoki upset not Hijikata. If he was being totally honest with himself (which he rarely was) he had sort of had a thing for Hijikata for a long time. In the past he had found it easier to open up to the Shinsengumi dog than his own kids and that had confused him for a long time. He didn’t just tell anyone that he was the Shiroyasha yet it had felt perfectly natural to tell Hijikata up on that rooftop.

It took some time but Gintoki figured out what the reason was. But he never acted on it, felt like that would only screw up the friend/rival relationship the two had. He considered it now and then but just couldn’t. Gintoki would go to the end of the world to help those who he cared about but when it came to his own desires he could never justify the effort.

But when he got locked up in a cell with Hijikata right before his heat, well he figured his strategy of ignoring those feelings would get irreversibly screwed up. And it did, it really did. He just hadn’t really counted on Hijikata to seemingly return those feelings. Of course the more practical side of Gintoki knew that it was less about how Hijikata felt and more about Omega pheromones driving Alphas crazy but here he was now, bound to Hijikata and still not sure what to think.

“It’s not you, sorry I just was thinking about the past, stupid stuff like that always fills my head after a heat, it’s just left over hormones crap, I’m fine” he finally replied, amazed that he was admitting it even as he said it.  

“Would it help to talk?” Hijikata asked, still sounding genuinely concerned.

That in itself was wrong, very wrong, Hijikata didn’t do nice, and he didn’t care, especially if it was Gintoki. But here he was trying his best and Gintoki wanted nothing more that to open up to the man. But he couldn’t, this wasn’t them, this just wasn’t them.

“No, stop worrying so much Mayora; just give me some space ok? This isn’t Gin-san’s first rodeo if you know what I mean, so just focus on something else and let me deal with my own shit my own way” Gintoki said, doing a damn good job of sounding like his usual laid back self.

Hijikata backed off with a grunt, apparently realizing he was acting out of character too and moved back over to his usual side of the cell. Gintoki went to the other side, but stayed away from the corner with the discarded shirt and jacket. The shirt was filthy and the jacket smelled too much like Hijikata for Gintoki to relax near it.

Slumping down next to the wall, Gintoki let his mind slip back to the past. That was always a dangerous thing to do, but trying to block out everything just made it worse.

The first time Gintoki had found out he was an Omega was when he was fifteen and just starting to train with the soldiers he had joined with Zura and Takasugi after their school had been burned down. Before then he had always just assumed he was an Alpha. Takasugi had hit puberty before Gintoki and he was an Alpha without a doubt. Since Gintoki knew him and Takasugi were damn near the same personality wise (even if he didn’t want to admit it) he figured he would follow suit. He sure wasn’t some calm and gentle Beta like Zura. But biology decided to really fuck with him and he found out he was an Omega.

Being so young he didn’t really experience any heats, and because he was training so hard the few he had were mild enough that he could just sleep it off in a night. He had heard somewhere that women had a similar thing with their monthly cycles. Not that Gintoki was like a women or anything, of course Zura on the other hand…

But as he got older and the battles turned uglier and the real war started, Gintoki felt his body change. The heats that used to be nothing more than him getting some cramps and feeling hornier than usual started to turn much more painful and last longer. So he was damn lucky that the first full blown heat he had happened to be at the same time as he was laid up in the medical tent after being wounded in a battle the previous day. Usually he wouldn’t get injured like that but he had not been at the top of his game the previous day and had messed up.

The doctor looking after him and been well trained and figured out what was going on with the moaning and shaking man quickly enough to get all the other patients out of the tent. It was no surprise that the war camp was filled with hot headed Alphas who wanted to protect their country. But the doctor was a fierce Beta, fierce because you couldn’t be soft and survive in a war zone, but still a Beta who wouldn't be swayed by an Omega in heat. When Gintoki came too again after four days of being tied up and sedated, he was tiered, sore, and emotionally drained. The doctor comforted him and explained what had happened. Gintoki had never been so grateful to a person since Shouyou-sensei had picked him up from that battlefield.

So a routine was established. Gintoki didn’t want anyone to know that he was an Omega, not even his friends so the doctor agreed to help in secrecy. When Gintoki felt a heat coming he would purposely let himself be injured (only enough to be sent to the medic) before it started and then have the doctor sedate him until the heat was over. That worked out fine until the supplies began to run out. Guilt started to fill Gintoki as he saw all the injured men who surely needed the pain numbing drugs more than him. So he didn’t see the doctor the next time he felt his heat coming, figuring he could deal with the pain himself. Right before it hit he left camp, with only a short message to Zura saying he would be back in a few days and to not move camp until then.

It started out fine enough, he hurt and his skin was overly sensitive but he could deal with the pain. But as the night came and the heat really started, Gintoki realized his mistake. He hadn’t expected all the thoughts and primal instincts that came with a heat. As he felt his mind start to slip he only prayed that he wouldn’t wander back to camp.

So of course when he woke up in the lap of some man, both of them naked, in the middle of the woods next to a small pond, he damn neared had a panic attack until he realized the man in question was Zura, then the panic attack did hit him. It took a good ten minutes of Zura’s frantic explaining for Gintoki to calm down again.

Apparently the camp had started to get restless because people smelled an Omega nearby. The smell was weak enough that no one acted on it, but the soldiers were talking, wondering who it was. The doctor heard this, realized who it had to be, and quickly called Zura. Knowing that Gintoki would be pissed but figuring that the best person to ask for help was the calm Beta leader he explained Gintoki’s situation and explained the basics of what a heat was like. Understanding that someone needed to go and look after the idiot Zura grabbed some provisions and set off after Gintoki.

When he found him in the woods, half naked, wild eyed, and in pain Zura rushed to him. It had been awkward but Zura did what he could to help Gintoki, all but have full sex because there was no way in hell he would take advantage of the lust filled Gintoki (and if Gintoki got pregnant it would be disastrous). Still they did make out, masturbate together and lived in physical pleasure for three days until Gintoki’s heat finally subsided.

After getting a lecture from Zura about his irresponsibility, they cleaned up in the pond and headed back to camp. Making up a lie about scouting out the surrounding area none of the men got suspicious except for Takasugi who just stared at them angrily. Later that night Zura made Gintoki tell Takasugi what had happened before their mutual friend imagined something worse.

It was soon afterwards that the doctor was killed when their camp was ambushed in the middle of the night. They lost many men and almost all of their supplies as the amanto burned the campsite down while the samurai fought back unprepared. 

As the war progressed and the rebels started to lose more and more it started to become too dangerous for Zura and Gintoki to leave camp for extended periods of time. The first time a heat came and they couldn’t leave, Gintoki, Zura, Takasugi and Sakamoto (who had been clued in a while ago) argued about what to do.

 It was damn dangerous for an Omega to go into heat in a camp full of Alphas, but it was too dangerous for Gintoki to leave camp far enough away to hide his pheromones. Finally Gintoki said screw it and marched out into the crowd of soldiers that had started to gather around after hearing their four leaders arguing in hushed whispers and announced the truth to the whole camp.

However he also followed it up with a threat, saying any man who tried to approach him once his heat started would not live to see another day. Coming from the Shiroyasha who all the men feared and respected, the threat was taken seriously. Not to mention the fact that it was well known that an Omega in heat who felt threatened was incredibly hostile and dangerous.

Come that night Gintoki left without Zura, just going to the edge of camp, and said to let any fool who dared follow him. Of course Zura protested but Gintoki just shook his head and said he could handle it alone now. That was true, he had started to get used to the heat and despite his lust filled brain, he could sort of think during one now.

During the next five days, every Alpha in camp was half hard and distracted. But only two left camp to approach Gintoki. Whether it was because they thought they stood a chance against the Shiroyasha or because their will power was just too weak, Zura watched them go, hoping Gintoki hadn’t lied to him.

Neither of the men returned to the camp and it was only after the five days when Gintoki returned that Zura and the rest found out what had happened. The blood covering Gintoki told Zura that both men were dead, and when he headed out to where Gintoki had been he found the nest Gintoki had made, surrounded by the bodies of the two soldiers. Gintoki had not been kind, the bodies were practically mauled, and even battle hardened Zura wanted to throw up.

After that, whenever Gintoki went into heat, no one went after him. The reason for this was by that time in the war the only samurai left were the ones with the most will power, and also because to them Gintoki was Shiroyasha first, Omega second. They didn’t dare go after him. Only once did Gintoki almost let an Alpha have him, and that was when he snuck back into camp at night during one of his heats and approached Takasugi. The two had started to go at it, Takasugi not being able to resist the Omega before him, and would have gone the whole way if Zura hadn’t heard the commotion next to his tent and pulled them apart. After that heat was over, Gintoki had been grateful and thanked Zura and Takasugi had been so angry that he refused to talk to Zura for a week.

After the war Gintoki drifted. At one point he was captured by the government and tortured. Yet his life was spared and he was free once more. However what good was freedom when he had nothing but a beating heart and shaking legs?  That’s what he thought as he stumbled along, finally collapsing against a headstone, too worn out move a step further. But then he met the old hag in that graveyard on that one winter day. He never expected that the promise he made that day would change the direction of his life so completely.

She was an Alpha but too old to care about the Omega staying above her. Having his own place to live was something new and Gintoki found himself grateful from the bottom of his heart. For the third time in his life, he felt extreme gratitude to someone for saving him.

Having his own place to live also meant he could go through his heats in peace and safety. For the first time he found himself regularly nesting, something he only rarely did during the war, and with the amanto came new drugs that helped him get through the worst of his heats. Of course that shit was expensive but when he hit a jackpot with pachinko he would save it up for emergencies. The addition of the two kids changed things a bit, but Shinpachi was a mild Beta (duh, no surprise there) and Kagura wasn’t human and didn’t have a secondary gender, so neither were affected by Gintoki. When he felt a heat coming he simply asked the two to stay with Shinpachi’s terrifying sister and it worked out fine.

Yes everything had been fine up till he fell for the idiot Alpha police officer named Hijikata. The first time they fought, Gintoki had been so stunned it took him being cut on the arm to snap out of it and fight back. Of course he didn’t want to hurt the raven haired man so he settled for breaking his sword to end the fight. After that every time they met, Gintoki was as irritating as possible, after all there was no way he could get along with an uptight, angry, mayo obsessed, chain smoker like Hijikata. He kept telling himself that, and it was easy to fall into the routine of constant fighting and auguring.

At first he just blamed any and all attraction he felt towards the raven haired man on his Omega instincts being annoying again. However he realized pretty soon it was more than primal attraction. On those rare occurrences that they had to work together it was almost frightening how in sync the two were. It had taken years of fighting together for Gintoki to fight side by side with Takasugi and Zura the way he fought with Hijikata the first time they pointed their swords at a mutual enemy and not each other.

 This confused Gintoki for a long time because he couldn’t (or perhaps didn’t want to) understand why he and Hijikata hated each other yet could fight together so well. He had heard the old saying that samurai talked with their swords, but in that case what the hell were they trying to tell each other? It was only when they were both on a roof top again, but under much different circumstances that everything sort of clicked.

 He had been feeling particularly reckless as he finally admitted to the Shinsengumi vice chief that he was the Shiroyasha. He didn’t know what to expect as a reaction to that declaration but hearing Hijikata laugh, deep and honest certainly wasn’t it. Nor hearing Hijikata admit that they were the same, both just thornies with blood on their hands but wanting to save others regardless of that. Yes it was that moment, adrenalin pumping and wild grins flashing, that he realized what he truly felt for the other man.

It was fine though, he didn’t feel the need to do anything about it, until he had been locked up in a cell with that man right before a heat. Now he had been marked and knotted, and honestly he didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. He had wanted Hijikata but he hadn’t wanted it under the influence of a heat. He didn’t even remember anything except a few memories of the smell of Alpha.

He felt like there were two sides of him, Gintoki and then Omega Gintoki. Obviously Omega Gintoki was the one Hijikata had been with, but where did that leave Gintoki? Would Hijikata want him for who he really was? Gintoki loved both sides of Hijikata, but did Hijikata feel the same way? Would Hijikata ever feel the need to sleep with Gintoki if it was outside of a heat? Gintoki felt like a little school girl, pining after her crush but honestly he just didn’t know, and that tore him up.

 _Why?_ Gintoki thought to himself, _Why after all those years did I finally accept someone? Every other Alpha who dared to approach me I killed ruthlessly, yet I just accepted Hijikata. I’m a fool, a damn fool_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed that little peak into Gintoki's brain. Now that all the pieces are set, I can finally move on to the main part of this story. Why were to two kidnapped, and where are they heading? Find out in the next chapter... *Dramatic music plays in background*


	5. It Doesn't Matter How Much You Fight as Long as You Can Agree on the Important Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, finally have the next chapter up. I wanted to post this earlier, but then life happened... Oops.

_I’m a fool, a damn fool._ Hijikata thought to himself as he sat in his corner desperately trying to not look at Gintoki.  

Hijikata felt like an idiot. What had he been thinking acting like that after he woke up? Gintoki’s words echoed in his head, _back off Hijikata, just because you marked me doesn’t mean you need to act like it meant anything._

Of course it hadn’t meant anything to Gintoki, everything had been purely for practicality’s sake nothing more and nothing less. Hijikata didn’t know why he had acted so out of character all of a sudden. He could blame it on lingering hormones or instinct but he knew that was only part of it. At some point during this whole ordeal he had started to care about the perm head, and that was unacceptable.

In a way Hijikata felt cheated because he remembered every detail of the previous night, every tender look, and every loaded word but Gintoki didn’t. Of course Hijikata found himself caring about Gintoki after everything that happened but Gintoki clearly didn’t return those thoughts.

Hijikata found his eyes wandering back to Gintoki slouched against the far wall. The Yorozuya was dressed in his usual white yukata but since his shirt was ruined Gintoki was wearing his yukata normally with both sleeves on.  Without the contrast of black and red, the fair skinned man looked almost ghostly. Seeing Gintoki without his trade mark look made Hijikata feel like the whole world was tilting to the side, everything felt off. The Yorozuya’s eyes were closed and Hijikata would have thought he was sleeping if it wasn’t for the occasional twitch of a hand or stutter of breath that occasionally occurred.

He almost looked like he was relaxed, but Hijikata knew that wasn’t true. He could _feel_ the unhappiness radiating from Gintoki. It was the bond clueing Hijikata into Gintoki’s emotions. It wasn’t like Hijikata could read Gintoki’s mind, and honestly he wasn’t even sure if unhappiness was the right word for the vague feelings he was getting from the white haired man but he was certain the emotion was negative. 

Hijikata was positive that he was the one causing Gintoki to be upset. He needed to get things back to normal and to do that he needed to re-distance himself from Gintoki. He could do that, nip any weird feelings at the bud and get things back on track.

Time passed and Hijikata was almost grateful to hear steps approaching the cell they were in. The awkward silence had been starting to drive Hijikata nuts, and finally he had something else to focus on as two amanto came into view.

One was the same minotaur from before but the other one was different. He was taller than the minotaur guard, probably six eight or so. His skin was a light shade of blue and his three eyes were serpent like. He was dressed in seemingly expensive clothes and Hijikata could only assume this person with their satisfied smirk was the one behind the kidnapping.

“So the boss finally decided to make an appearance huh?” Gintoki drawled in his usual irritating voice with a slight smirk.

The sudden change in Gintoki had Hijikata whirling. Not moments ago Hijikata had been sure Gintoki was depressed but now he seemed back to his old self. Similarly he no longer felt anything from the bond. It was like Gintoki had flipped a switch and turned it off.  Hijikata was ok with that, if Gintoki wanted to go back to normal, Hijikata could move on and forget too.

“Yes sorry for the late introduction” the amanto said in a lighthearted voice, “I wanted to meet you earlier but I have learned that it is better to not give you humans any extra information until the last second. Your species has a bad habit of making plans” he finished with a chuckle like it was an adorable but worthless trait.

“Well that’s a pretty shitty introduction boss-kun, didn’t even tell us your name” Gintoki replied while digging a finger in his ear with a bored look on his face.

“Ah I always do like you samurai types; never miss a beat do you? I go by the name Hiarak but that doesn’t really matter because you won’t know me for much longer. Now that we have reached our destination I plan on making some good money off you two then going on my way” Hiarak said with a big smile.

“What? Are you seriously some lame bounty hunter or something? Sorry but you don’t really strike me as the type” Gintoki said, looking like he didn’t care about what was going on in the slightest.

Meanwhile Hijikata was fuming, was he seriously kidnapped just to be sold like some piece of merchandise? Screw that! Like hell he was just going to sit quietly and let that happen.

Before he could voice his complaints, the amanto started to laugh before replying “I’m no bounty hunter, I’m a trader. I participate in auctions all across the universe and deal in all types of goods. Imagine my surprise when I sent some of my people to earth to look for goods and they came back with the legendary Shiroyasha and the Demonic Vice Chief. I was positively giddy! Although I was concerned about putting you two in the same cell, honestly I’m surprised you haven’t tried to kill one other yet.”

“It tends to be hard to kill someone when you don’t have a sword” Hijikata growled while glaring at Hiarak, making it clear who he wanted to kill.

“True, very true Hijikata-san. Don’t worry about your weapons; I will be selling those along with you. It is a set after all, a samurai and his sword. It would be a waste to sell them separately” Hiarak responded good naturedly as if he was doing them a favor.

Hijikata could feel his temper rising at the attitude of the amanto. Lighting fast he was up and reaching his hands through the bars, grabbing Hiarak’s vest and pulling him forward “Let. Us. Go. Now.” Hijikata said slowly, pouring malice into every word “let us go, or I swear I will make you regret it.”

“Now, now Vice Chief, save that scary face for whoever decides to buy you. It won’t get you anywhere with me. Unlike whoever ends up with you, I happen to be experienced in dealing with your kind” the amanto said in with a smirk but his eyes were suddenly much more cruel looking.

Before Hijikata had time to process the amanto’s threat, Hijikata heard the soft click of metal and looked down to see a thin metal bracelet around his right wrist. He let go of Hiarak and immediately tried to remove the silver band but realized quickly that it was too tight. He could see where the two halves met but he couldn’t pry it open either.

“Nifty little trinkets those bands are” Hiarak said with a big smile, as if he hadn’t just been threatened “Not only do they serve as ID chips and GPS trackers so that no one can steal my merchandise before I sell it, but they also work wonders for dealing with stubborn humans, observe.”

He then pulled out a key ring with various metal keys and buttons and pressed one of the buttons. Suddenly Hijikata’s body went completely stiff, he couldn’t even breathe. The paralyzing effect quickly disappeared but he felt like his whole body was made of rubber. Unable to lock is knees, he fell rather ungracefully to the floor, smacking his head on the ground. Luckily he had fallen sideways and didn’t smash his face into the ground but it still hurt like hell.

Gintoki was up in a heartbeat, over to Hijikata and glaring daggers at Hiarak, “what was that for? Did you really feel that threatened by an unarmed man behind steel bars? Or is your ego so fragile you have to show off your little toys in order to feel important? You’re a pathetic coward” he finished with a hateful sneer.

Hijikata wanted to say something but it was like the breath had been knocked of him. All he could do was watch as Gintoki insulted the amanto.

“Relax Shiroyasha-san! The effects are strong but short lived. The Vice Chief will be fine in a matter of minutes. After all what would I gain from damaging my goods? I’ll demonstrate it for you in just a moment if you would be so kind and hold out your wrist for me” Hiarak said in a voice like a parent would address an over reacting child.

“Ha! As if. Unlike some people I know, I won’t just give you the opportunity to tag me. If you want that, open that door and just try. I’ll have you on the ground and unconscious within 30 seconds. Then we’ll just see how it plays out from there, sound good?” Gintoki said with a shit eating smile, daring the amanto to try him.

“I believe I told you earlier, I’m a trader not a fighter.  I make obscene amounts of money and pay people to fight for me. That’s how business works” Hiarak said with a little shake of his head as if he was explaining something simple to a dense person and pitied them for not understanding.

He then snapped his fingers and started to walk away, laughing about how he would see them at the auction. Multiple minotaur like guards stormed into the cell as he left. Hijikata watched motionless from the floor, unable to do more than twitch a finger, as Gintoki took the guards head on. At first he was sure Gintoki was screwed, the silver haired man was completely surrounded by amanto bigger than him. But then he watched as Gintoki struck a minotaur once, and it went down, and stayed down. Then another. Hijikata hadn’t really ever seen Gintoki fight hand to hand, but he was quickly realizing he was just as skilled with his fists as he was with his sword.

Not only that, but Gintoki seemed like he was used to fighting against multiple opponents at once. As Hijikata watched he started to notice a rhythm to his movements, some dance that Hijikata couldn’t identify but recognized existed. The hits were fast and precise and he quickly realized that Gintoki was striking the same spot on each amanto. It didn’t kill them, but dropped them all the same. Hijikata started to get a feeling that this wasn’t the first time Gintoki had fought against this species of amanto.

Then there was an opening. It wasn’t obvious, there were still guards in the way, but Hijikata realized it because suddenly Gintoki was looking at the exit and it dawned on Hijikata that with one burst of speed Gintoki would be able to break through and out. Hijikata watched as Gintoki took a step in that direction, waiting for him to make his escape. But then he paused for the first time since the fight started and the rhythm broke. Suddenly the guards were landing hits and Gintoki was on the ground, pinned by three minotaurs.

Even with all the panting and moaning coming from the dozen or so injured guards, Hijikata still heard the audible click of metal that signaled the end of the fight. Perhaps because the world hated him, it was only then that the feeling returned to Hijikata’s body. Suddenly able to move and Hijikata jumped up, determined to finish off the guards holding Gintoki down.

“Stop” Gintoki said the second Hijikata got to his feet “its fine, don’t get yourself paralyzed again for no reason. It’ll just make you even more worthless” he finished in a mocking tone.

It was then Hijikata noticed that the first guard had remained outside the cell and was now holding the same button that Hiarak had earlier. If he made one aggressive move he would be back on the floor in a heartbeat.

Hijikata clicked his tongue in annoyance before replying “that’s pretty rich coming from someone who is currently pinned to the ground. Guess you were nothing but talk Yorozuya.”

‘’Well I decided I was tired and this wasn’t worth the effort” Gintoki said like he was bored of the whole thing.

Hijikata felt his eyebrow twitch, “exactly what part of escaping from imprisonment is not worth the effort?”

“Well seeing as I am the main character and all, the only fights I actually put effort into are the big boss fights at the end of arcs and stuff. This midlevel boss stuff is more for side characters like yourself” Gintoki replied as he was hauled up by two of the guards.

Two guards came to grab Hijikata and he resisted the urge to fight back as they started to lead him out of the cell. Honestly at that moment Hijikata was more pissed with Gintoki than the amanto.

“Are you freaking kidding me? First off, you’re a shitty main character so the rules don’t apply to you. Second I don’t care what your reason was, you had an opening and you wasted it” Hijikata said angrily as he was led out of the cell, with Gintoki being escorted behind him.

“I didn’t see any openings in that fight” he responded in a totally indifferent voice.

“Bullshit” Hijikata almost hissed “we both know that’s a lie, what the hell were you thinking?”

“And what exactly was I supposed to do? Just leave you there on the floor?” Gintoki shot back, actually sounding pissed.

 _Oh_ , Hijikata thought, wondering why he hadn’t realized that sooner.

“No” _Yes_ , “but you could of thought of something” _you should of left me_.

“Moron, where was I supposed to go anyway? Were still on a ship in case you forgot. We’ll escape when we have solid ground under us again” Gintoki said back to his neutral voice.

Not for the first time Hijikata wished he could get inside Gintoki’s head. The man had an uncanny ability to hide everything behind indifference. Hijikata could never quite get his footing around the white haired man, and it was frustrating. The bond wasn’t much help either, besides a quick spike of anger, Hijikata couldn’t read anything from it. It was like Gintoki was shutting his emotions off subconsciously at the same time he pulled a blank face externally.

“Besides” Gintoki continued while Hijikata internally wanted to scream in frustration “if we’re heading off to be sold like merchandise, I wanted to at least have the pride of walking there on my two own feet instead of being hauled like cargo.”

Hijikata couldn’t help but snort, _fucking Gintoki, just when I wanted to strangle the bastard, he says something like that._

“Yeah fair enough” he finally replied with a bitter smirk.

“I think the better time to try and escape is after the auction anyway” the red eyed man said off handedly “I actually am working on a plan right now, so don’t say I never do anything.”

All the respect Hijikata had been building instantly disappeared “dumbass! Don’t talk about your plan for escaping right in front of the enemy, are you really that stupid or are you purposely trying to make me hate you even more than I already do?”

“Relax Mayora, these are just grunts, none of them know Japanese, watch” Gintoki said before yelling “hey you! Guard number 3 with the messed up ear! I meant to mention it earlier but you seriously need to think about dieting, damn near suffocated me when you sat on me earlier. You don’t want your fellow guards to make fun of you do you?”

The guard in question didn’t even twitch but the one holding Gintoki roughly shoved him forward, silently communicating _shut up and move_.

“See? No response, they don’t have a clue what we are talking about. Do you really think grunts like these are going to learn the language of every prisoner they get when they travel all over the universe?” Gintoki said and Hijikata could picture the cocky smile that went along with it.

“Doesn’t matter, it’s still stupid” Hijikata grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah just keep pouting up there; I can hear it in your voice you know. Anyway we should wait till after the auction because once we get sold, these bracelets will come off and we won’t have to worry about getting paralyzed. I am willing to bet the people who buy us won’t have these things” the white haired samurai said sounding very sure of himself.

“Ok but there is a problem in your oh so great plan, chances are that we will be split up after the auction. After all the amanto who would be interested in getting revenge on a famous Joi aren’t the same as the ones who have a problem with the Shinsengumi. I don’t like having to team up with you, but even an idiot like you must realize that we stand a better chance of getting home together” Hijikata countered.

Almost instantly Gintoki shot back “Nah I got that covered too, I bet we will be taken to a holding cell while Hiarak trades money with his buyers. A dude so paranoid that he puts paralyzing bracelets on people is going to get money first, then trade goods, guarantee it.”

“So you want to make a break for it during the trade off?” the raven haired man said, finally warming up to the idea.

“Exactly a planet that has big auctions should have an intragalactic phone somewhere. And if anyone should know the number of the Edo police, I would think it would be their Vice Chief” Gintoki finished mockingly, but Hijikata could hear the excitement in his voice.

Thinking it over Hijikata finally replied “alright, I’ll give your plan a shot, but if anything goes wrong it’s on you.”

Gintoki huffed before replying “have a little confidence, besides there is another reason to wait until after the auction, and it is even more important than just the perfect timing to escape.”

“Oh and what’s that?” Hijikata asked curiously, willing to play along just this once.

“Well I would think it is obvious, we have to see which one of us amanto are willing to pay more for to get revenge on. Three parfaits says it’s me, sorry but I guarantee the Shiroyasha is more famous to amanto than the Demonic Vice Chief” he finished in arrogant tone.

Hijikata couldn’t help the smirk that grew on his face as he challenged back “oi, bastard, hate to break it to you but you haven’t been relevant for over 10 years. Three bottles of mayonnaise says I walk away with the higher bid and five bottles and a pack of cigarettes says I get at least twice as high a bid as you.”

“Oh you’re on, and if I get twice as much or more, you owe me three parfaits and a month of new Jumps” the silver haired samurai shot back with a laugh.

Hijikata didn’t laugh often but at that moment he let himself enjoy the moment and laughed along with that perm headed idiot. _I have to admit, it’s better to walk with my head held high and a grin on my face, then be dragged with a frown._  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright folks, step up and place your bets, who will get the higher bid? Find out that and more in the next chapter...


	6. Always Save the Bickering for Street Fights and the Bedroom

As the amanto guards continued to lead Hijikata and Gintoki through the ship, Hijikata became more and more thankful that they hadn’t attempted escape earlier. The ship was set up like a damn labyrinth and Hijikata would have sworn the guards were purposely trying to take the most confusing route to disorientate the two samurai if it weren’t for the fact that they had no reason to since Hiarak wasn’t planning on having them on his ship ever again. Regardless the ship was absolutely massive and Hijikata doubted he or the Yorozuya would have been able to quickly find an exit if they had attempted to escape on their own.

Gintoki was being strangely silent after their laughing had died down, but Hijikata didn’t feel like it was a bad kind of silence. Words weren’t really needed at this point. It was almost like the atmosphere before a raid, a mix of energy, excitement, fear, and reflection all crashing together into a special kind of silent buzz. Both men knew this was it, things were finally moving forward. They had a plan and now all that was left was to see it through (and settle a bet or two).

After about ten minutes of walking Hijikata finally was led to what appeared to be an exit, the perm head following behind and surprisingly not causing a fuss. Hijikata could feel the grip of the guards on either side of him tighten as he was lead through the door and finally, _finally_ was outside those grey metal walls.

He had to blink a few times as the brightness of the daylight was almost blinding after being stuck inside for such a long period of time. As soon as he was able to see normally, he had to blink a few more times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

There were amanto _everywhere_. Hijikata was no stranger to amanto, working for the bakufu pretty much required interaction on a regular basis. However, never before had he seen so many different types all intermingling and not a single human to be found. It was a little overwhelming and Hijikata would be lying if he said it wasn’t a bit intimidating.

As soon as he made eye contact with one of the amanto, a tall creature with a head resembling a vulture, and the creature glared at him, he realized he was staring like a naive kid. Hijikata quickly schooled his features into his trade mark scowl and the creature looked away. That one little victory reminded him that it didn’t matter whether it was an amanto or a human, he was the Vice Chief of the Shinsengumi and these were just criminals and punks, same as Edo. Confidence renewed, Hijikata turned to look at Gintoki and see what his reaction was.

At first Gintoki was blinking rapidly just like Hijikata had. However Hijikata could tell the instant Gintoki got a good look at their surroundings because he stopped walking for just a fraction of a second and his hand went straight to his hip where his sword would have been. For the briefest of moments, something flashed across Gintoki’s face, something cold and calculating.

He was back to normal in an instant, the guard leading him hadn’t even noticed, but Hijikata did. Briefly Hijikata wondered when the last time Gintoki had been surrounded by so many amanto. For all he knew, it could have been back during the war. That would explain the reaction, after all some habits became instinct after long periods of time.

Before Hijikata could observe more, the guard on his left roughly pushed him forward and Hijikata was forced to focus on what was in front of him. It only took a minute or two for Hijikata to realize that their procession had started in some sort of spaceship airport. As the group left the high fenced in area and entered the real city, the number of amanto practically quadrupled.

The city they were in was a buzz of activity. The buildings were tall but shabby, the streets narrow and packed. It was loud, the combined roar of the crowds almost too much after the quiet of the ship. Their procession was quickly forced to squish together from the pressure of the surrounding crowd.  Hijikata could feel the heat of someone behind him and he could tell it was Gintoki from the lack of heat on the top of his head which would have been the case if it was one of the tall minotaur guards.

“It’s kind of strange don’t you think?” Gintoki said off handedly from behind Hijikata, “Why do you think they are parading us down the street like this? Considering how busy the city is, we could make a break for it easily and get lost in the crowd.”

Gintoki’s words were oddly similar to what Hijikata had been thinking himself. As soon as they had started to walk down the street the raven haired samurai had immediately started to scan the area. Part of that was just habit from patrolling the streets of Edo as a policeman, but it was also because he couldn’t help himself from looking for an opportunity to escape.

Gintoki continued to drone on while Hijikata only half listened to the white haired samurai’s rambling “Then again, those guards would just paralyze us before we could make it ten feet and even if we somehow did manage to lose them, we would probably just get picked up by some other shady group before the effect wore off.”

Hijikata clicked his tongue in annoyance, more at the situation then Gintoki. Hijikata had already weighted the options of making a break for it now verses waiting to do the original plan and come to the same conclusion. Gintoki wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t know already.

“Still, you know it seems like a big risk for someone as paranoid as Hiarak, I mean just look at all the attention we are attracting” Gintoki continued in a voice entirely too carefree for Hijikata’s liking considering the situation.

“You have a point you’re trying to make or are you just going to keep rambling back there all day Yorozuya?” Hijikata said in a quiet voice.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like the chance to talk to Gintoki, but he was paranoid about the guards. Sure it was loud in the city but the last thing he wanted was to have the guards separate them just because Gintoki couldn’t keep his stupid mouth shut for more than a few minutes. It was ridiculous, he knew it was, but he liked knowing Gintoki was right behind him, watching his back in a way. His nerves were already on high alert but somehow knowing it was Gintoki helped keep him grounded. 

Gintoki paused for a moment before replying “I just found it interesting that we were being paraded down the street like livestock. If you ask me it seems that Hiarak wanted to get some last minute advertising in. Just look at this crowd they look like they are ready to tear us apart already.”

Taking a moment to really look at the crowd surrounding them, Hijikata had to agree with Gintoki on that one. However he quickly realized that it wasn’t him that the crowd was focused on, it was the person behind him. In fact if Hijikata listened closely enough he could pick out one word among the thousands of foreign ones that kept being repeated, _Shiroyasha._

“Sounds to me” Hijikata started with a little smile “that the one they want to tear apart isn’t us, it’s you. That’s what you get for wearing the same color all the time. You stand out like a neon sign with all that white.”

Gintoki’s humpf of annoyance was priceless “It’s not my fault that main characters are assigned a color, you’re just jealous that you don’t get a special color. You and a hundred other guys are dressed in black. You’re just not special enough I guess.”

“Please” Hijikata retorted with a snort, “I don’t need some _special_ color to stand out as a character. If you didn’t have a signature color the audience would never realize you were even important to the story. After all everyone knows that the Shinsengumi were supposed to be the focus until Sorachi decided to change it last second.”

“That’s ancient history, who cares? If it never even made it into the manga it doesn’t count” Gintoki said nonchalantly. 

Hijikata couldn’t see Gintoki’s face but he could imagine the lazy smirk on the perm head’s face. For the briefest second he was back on the streets of Edo, walking his daily patrol. Slipping into an argument with Gintoki was so natural feeling. In this situation where everything was foreign, a simple bickering match with the dead eyed samurai was enough to make him feel at home again.

Of course, it was in that brief moment of relaxation and distraction that the minotaur guard in front of him suddenly stopped. Only years of fighting instinct allowed Hijikata to stop in time to avoid running right into the guard’s back. However, he still stumbled a bit and let out a quiet hiss of a curse. He could hear a snicker coming from behind him, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out who was making the sound.

“Shut up” Hijikata grumbled, trying to ignore the telling flush of warmth spread across his face.

Like hell he would let Gintoki hear any sign of embarrassment in his voice. It was all the perm head’s fault anyway. Hijikata should have known better, letting himself get distracted by that idiot was a rookie mistake. What had he been thinking? It was nonsense to think having the lazy moron around would make him safer. The fool was nothing but a nuisance.

Before Hijikata had a chance to internally rant about Gintoki more, he was roughly shoved forward. He was forced to walk up a set of stairs, or else risk being shoved forward and tripping. At the top he found himself on a large platform overlooking a sea of amanto. A moment later Gintoki joined him on the stage. Side by side they stood there looking at the crowd before them, and both were speechless.

It seemed that in the short time they had been walking they had managed to reach the area for the auction. In the back of his mind, Hijikata realized that it made sense for the auction area to be close to the shipping port to make the transfer of goods easier. However, he was more focused on the mass before him. The walk through town had given him a clue to the type of atmosphere to expect, but this was something else entirely. To have so many pairs of eyes focused on him was unnerving to say the least.

 Hijikata could handle stares, even from large groups, but never had he been stared at with such a mix of hate and anticipation. The sheer hunger in those eyes was enough to really drive home the reality of the situation. Suddenly the raven haired samurai understood the full extent of the livestock metaphor that Gintoki had used earlier. The crowd was ready to rip the two of them apart and devour them whole. Even someone like Hijikata, with nerves of steel and an unshakable soul, couldn’t help but feel the tingle of instinctual warning that crept up his spine at the sight.

To his right, he could sense Gintoki tensing as well. Even the perm head, who was seemingly unfazed by anything, was apparently affected. However instead of feeling better for not being the only one, this realization only made Hijikata more uneasy.

However he didn’t let it show on his face. The blue eyed man looked at the crowd with his trade mark scowl, noticing with satisfaction that most of the amanto he made eye contact with quickly looked away. Hijikata understood that fear was not a weakness, just a warning. He had acknowledged his fear and was now ready to face the situation, just like always. He was the level headed leader of the Shinsengumi for a reason and it would take more than this to truly throw him off.

“My my, isn’t this a sight” a familiar voice from behind Hijikata said in a fond tone, “I haven’t seen a crowd this excided in ages, helps remind me why I do what I do.”

“Boring” came Gintoki’s immediate reply “you sound like an old man Hiarak. Where is the evil speech about your goals and how we’re helpless to stop you? It’s always so much more fun to screw with the bad guy after they talk about how great they are.”

Hijikata was torn between laughing and slapping Gintoki upside the head. Antagonizing Hiarak now would do them no good, and indirectly revealing their intent to escape was even worse. It was a classic Gintoki move, he couldn’t resist causing trouble for the people around him, friend and foe alike.

Sighing Hiarak responded in a wounded voice “why must you insist on labeling me the bad guy? I’ve already explained to you both that I am nothing but a merchant, a trader. Save your hate for the person who buys you. Trust me, it is that person who deserves the title of the villain, not me.”

“Oh please” Hijikata cut in, tired of listening to the amanto trader “just because you play middle man, doesn’t excuse the things your responsible for. Either man up and admit to being a horrible person and give us the evil speech the white haired moron over there was talking about, or shut the hell up. Because to be honest, you just sound pathetic right now, naïveté doesn’t suit you.”

Hijikata couldn’t see Hiarak yet but he could hear the sputter of shock coming from him clear as day. Next to him Gintoki let out a loud snicker, and Hijikata couldn’t help but grin. Ok, so maybe he was a hypocrite but messing with Hiarak felt surprisingly good. Besides he meant every word he said, he was more than done with the merchant’s innocent act.

Slowly Hiarak made his way around to the front of the two samurai, a frown on his face. Hijikata couldn’t help but let a predatory grin spread across his face at the sight of the ruffled amanto. Somehow he knew Gintoki was making a similar face next to him.

Staring at the two samurai, Hiarak finally responded “you two still have so much pride, don’t you? I can see the challenge in your eyes, you refuse to back down don’t you? No matter,” and suddenly Hiarak’s voice dropped to a much more serious pitch “you are both nothing more than merchandise. Until I sell you to the highest bidder you are under my control and will do as I say, now kneel” and the sharpness of that command made it clear he was no longer joking.

Immediately after the order was given, the guard behind Hijikata began to try and force Hijikata to his knees. Even though fighting against the action was pointless in the long run, the raven head refused to go down. It was a matter of pride now, like hell he would do as that bastard ordered. He could hear Gintoki resisting too, but didn’t look over to see how he was faring. Hijikata refused to break eye contact with the trader before him, he wasn’t about to back down.

“I would have thought two men of such fame would be smarter. I should have known you would be fools just like the rest of your pathetic backwards race. I guess I will just have to resort to physical force to remind you of your status. As of now I own you, now kneel” and with that, he pulled out a familiar looking remote and pressed a button.

Hijikata could only internally curse himself as his body instantly went numb and he started to fall to the ground. He had let himself get so wound up in the moment that he had temporarily forgotten about the damn paralyzing bracelets. Instead of crumpling to the ground like last time, the guard behind Hijikata forced him into a kneeling position. To add insult to injury the guard lifted his head up, baring his throat to Hiarak. It was the ultimate position of submissiveness and if it weren’t for the fact that he currently couldn’t breathe he would be cursing up a storm.

“Much better” Hiarak said with a smile, normal tone back as if nothing had happened. With a clap of his hands he turned around to the crowd and said in a happy go lucky tone, “Lets get this auction underway shall we?”

It was maddening, not being able to move. Hiarak went to talk to what Hijikata could only assume was the auctioneer before wandering back as if he hadn’t been arguing with the two men mere seconds ago.

“Cheer up, will you?” the trader said, taking advantage of the temporary muteness of the two humans “will it make you feel better to know that there is a universal translator set up around this area? Everyone will be speaking in different languages, but you will hear it as if it was Japanese. Isn’t that nice? You will get to know exactly how much your insignificant lives are worth” he finished with a big grin.

Hijikata took back his earlier thought, not being able to move wasn’t maddening, it was infuriating. Even though it was impossible to tense, he felt as if he was doing just that, waiting for the moment he could strike. Screw the plan, Hijikata wanted to get in at least one solid punch before this was all over with. If he was fast enough perhaps he would be able to break free of the guard’s hold long enough to give that piece of shit amanto a black eye or two. Maybe if he aimed right, he could dislocate his jaw, or even break it. Or maybe he should just aim for the nose, since that was an incredibly sensitive spot. Then again a well placed hit to the throat would make it impossible to breathe for a little while, then the amanto could see what it is like to not be able to inhale for a bit.

Hijikata was so busy planning all the ways he could hurt the person who had captured him that he didn’t notice that the auction had started. Surprisingly as soon as he started to listen he realized that the bidding had already escalated to over 900 million yen for Gintoki and 800 million for Hijikata. Both those numbers were rising too as people called out higher numbers for the “Shiroyasha” and the “Demon”.

For one second Gintoki’s bit was higher, then Hijikata’s, then it would go back, then reverse again. Even with the translation, it was still hard to follow due to the chaotic nature of the auction. Hijikata was only half paying attention anyway since he was more concerned with breaking free as soon as the paralysis wore off. After what felt like an eternity, suddenly Hijikata could move and he tried to jump up as soon as he realized he could again. Unfortunately almost as soon as he started to, Hiarak pressed the button on the remote once more and the blue eyed man was shoved into the ground, not even given the luxury of kneeling anymore.

“Interesting” Hiarak said looking down at Hijikata with a falsely innocent smile “It seems the effects of the bracelet wares off on you faster than your companion. I have to say it is a pretty quick time, only 5 minutes and 10 seconds for you to move again. That’s quick for a human.”

Hijikata was anything but proud about that fact, it didn’t do him much good. In fact as he listened to the auction, unable to do anything else, it seemed his moment of rebellion only made the matter worse. Following his failed attack, the bids for him only sky rocketed more, as the auctioneer advertised his fiery temper and spirit as a bonus. Apparently many amanto were chomping at the bit to get a hold of him and try and break him, and the more rebellious the bigger the challenge.

Not wanting to be out done it seemed, Gintoki followed suit after a few moments. He managed to get an elbow to his guard’s stomach and even get a foot underneath himself before being paralyzed again. The crowd went wild, apparently thrilled that the great Shiroyasha was still as feisty as ever.

Hiarak just laughed and told Gintoki “the paralyzing effect lasts longer on you huh, fascinating isn’t it? It takes 7 minutes and 15 seconds for you, just over two minutes longer than your fellow captive. You just have to love the science behind it all”.

Hijikata really wished he was capable of sighing at that moment. It seemed Gintoki hadn’t been listening otherwise he would have realized that acting out would only backfire. Now the bids were up to 1 billion yen for each of them. In a sick and twisted way, Hijikata could admit he was actually rather flattered that he was worth so much, although the bids were starting to slow down now that the price was so high. As the last bid came in and the auctioneer called out for any last offers, Hijikata resigned himself. As it turned out apparently Gintoki was worth more, if only by 100 thousand yen, which really was pocket change compared to the billions being offered.

However before the last call could be made, one voice echoed through the crowd “200 billion for the both of them”.

Everyone in the crowd went silent at that, only the auctioneer’s voice rang out as he called out for any one to top that outrageous offer. As sold rang out, ending the auction, Hijikata’s paralysis wore off. Yet he didn’t bother trying to move this time, too stunned by what had occurred.         

It was only the look on Hiarak’s face that allowed Hijikata to get over the shock. The look of pure joy and satisfaction was enough to make Hijikata quickly remember all his anger.

“Stop looking so happy bastard” Hijikata growled with all the intimidation he could muster while being held against the ground.

Apparently, it wasn’t enough because Hiarak didn’t lose one bit of his smile “isn’t this wonderful? I never dreamed I would make 100 billion on each of you, what a deal!”  

“You didn’t earn anything” Gintoki said, joining in now that he could talk again “we are the ones that earned that money, not you. It was our actions and ours alone, so don’t let it go to your head”.

“Doesn’t matter does it?” the trader replied, completely unfazed “I walk away with what you claim to be your money, and you two are out of my hair from now on, it’s a win win for me”.

“It’s fine, take the money and run for now” Gintoki said with his stereotypical neutral voice “but remember, you will pay it back one day, I never forget those who owe me money” and while he stated this off handedly, Hijikata recognized the true threat under the words.

As Hiarak wandered off, seemingly oblivious as he mumbled about meeting with his customer, Hijikata looked over at Gintoki. His face was a mask, as always he looked like he could care less about what was going on. But in his eyes, Hijikata saw something cold and fierce. He saw determination, but most importantly he saw the promise Gintoki had made to both Hiarak and himself.

The uncharacteristic seriousness faded and Hijikata didn’t know what to say as he was hauled back up by a guard. But of course Gintoki broke the silence.

“Hey, you know something?” he asked but continued before Hijikata could reply “neither of us actually won the bet. This day really sucks”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha, ha ha "insert awkward Sakamoto laugh here". Sorry for not updating for so long. I promise I didn't drop this story, I'm just really bad at updating. Thank you for sticking with me and thank you for all the comments and kudos. It is a huge inspiration every time.


	7. What's That Saying About the Best Laid Plans?

Hijikata couldn’t decide if he should laugh or sigh at Gintoki. Leave it up to the broke ass samurai to be more concerned about not winning a few free treats then the whole just got sold in an intergalactic auction thing. Was he really so confident in their half-formed escape plan that the auction meant so little to him? But that couldn’t be right because he had looked 100% determined to pay back Hiarak once this whole fiasco was over.

Whatever, once again trying to figure out what that fluffy headed moron was thinking was only giving Hijikata a headache. He had bigger things to worry about, like where exactly the guards were leading him now. At least one thing had gone better than expected. Even if it sucked that the bet was ruined, being bought by the same person meant the risk of being split up was now gone. That was one complication they didn’t have to worry about anymore.

As they were led away from the auction floor the raven-haired samurai was surprised to find that they were guided to a set of stairs leading down into the ground. The entrance was not too far away from the steps up to the platform they were just on. Much like before Hijikata was in the front, with Gintoki following behind. It became clear very quickly that they were entering a holding area beneath the auction platform, probably for situations just like theirs. However, this place felt more like a run-down dungeon than anything else.

It certainly wasn’t like the prison cell inside the ship they had arrived in. Where that had been barren and pure metal, this place was built into the dirt and full of stains and smells that Hijikata didn’t even want to try and identify. At least there was one thing Hijikata could get some satisfaction about.

Hiarak, who had been leading the small procession, had turned to motion to the guards which cell was meant for the two samurai. The look on his face as he did this however, was less than pleased. It seemed he disliked being down here just as much as the two humans did, perhaps more so by the way he kept looking around the room nervously, as if one of the stains might creep nearer if he didn’t pay attention. He was obviously paranoid about the filth around him, and Hijikata wondered if it was just a strong dislike or an actual fear. He hoped it was fear because that was a weakness he was more than ready to exploit if he got the chance.

The guards roughly shoved him and Gintoki into the cell that Hiarak had pointed out earlier. It was made of dirt walls and only had some old straw on the floor. At least the straw looked fresh and wasn’t stained with who knew what. Hiarak left quickly after that and only two guards remained to keep watch. The lack of security was a good sign, if it stayed this light, making a run for it as soon as the bracelets were gone would be that much easier.

“Well isn’t this just cozy” Gintoki drawled as he took in their surroundings.

Hijikata didn’t feel the need to respond to such an obvious statement and just huffed in agreement.

Gintoki walked over to the back corner of the cell before sitting down. He motioned for Hijikata to sit down next to him as if it was the most normal action in the world. Hijikata could feel a headache coming on. Since when were they so friendly? The raven-haired man considered sitting in the other corner just to spite Gintoki but with a sigh of resignation decided the fight wasn’t worth it. He sat down next to the other samurai but made sure to keep far enough away to not touch him. He was determined to maintain some boundaries.

As soon as he was settled Gintoki started to talk in a hushed tone “this holding area is small and the passage is narrow. That means most weapons are going to be worthless down here.”

Hijikata nodded his head in agreement before adding “Hiarak mentioned he was going to sell our swords with us. But even if he did bring them down here for the trade off, they won’t do us any good until we can make it outside. We need to be able to fight off those guards barehanded. Luckily because it is small down here, there is only a few guards at a time.”

“Yep, my thoughts exactly” Gintoki said with a little smile “those guys aren’t so tough anyway, one solid hit in the right place and they go down in an instant. You saw where I was aiming last time right? Think you can copy the hit?”

Feeling like the perm headed man was making fun of him, he quickly replied “of course, I memorized the spot as soon as I saw you take the first one down. You’re not the only one who knows how to fight hand to hand. Just because I was paralyzed last time doesn’t mean I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Still a little bitter about that aren’t you?” Gintoki teased.

“Oh shut up” Hijikata grumbled “you got your five seconds to act all tough, don’t act like it was that big of a deal. After all that fight turned out to be pointless anyway. This next fight is the one that matters, and I won’t be on the sidelines for that one.”

“Ok, ok calm down, no need to get your panties in a twist” the silver haired man said in a fake genuine voice. However humor still shone in his red eyes, giving away his true feelings about the event.

Fighting to keep himself from blushing in embarrassment Hijikata quickly redirected the conversation with the first question he could think of “how come you know exactly where to hit those amanto to take them down?”

It wasn’t the most subtle deflect, but Hijikata figured Gintoki would get distracted bragging about his fighting technique and forget about teasing Hijikata about getting paralyzed so easily.

Instead to Hijikata’s surprise, the other man just replied in a fairly neutral voice “just picked it up. After all living in the sketchier side of Edo makes you learn all kinds of stuff like that.”

Hijikata wouldn’t have though much of it, if it weren’t from the sudden change in the emotions he could feel through the bond. Before he asked the question, he had been subconsciously registering the information from the bond as a sort of positive background noise. He hadn’t really been aware he was even tracking anything at all. But the sudden stop of that emotion made Hijikata realize something had changed.

Quickly looking over at the other man, there wasn’t much to see. Gintoki looked the same as before. He was relaxed against the wall, a small smile on his lips, breathing evenly. But looking closer Hijikata could see that the humor was gone from Gintoki’s eyes.

 _Shit_ Hijikata thought to himself _it’s war stuff, of course it’s war stuff. Now is not the time to remind him of all that crap. He always closes himself off when that stuff gets brought up._

It was obvious that the silver haired man was trying to hide the truth. In fact if it wasn’t for the bond, which in all honesty he should never of gotten in the first place, he won’t of picked up on the change in attitude. The policeman quickly decided he should act like he didn’t realize anything was wrong. He couldn’t help but feel guilty about picking up on it with the bond. If felt like a breach of privacy and trust, even if it hadn’t been on purpose.

Picking up the thread of conversation he followed up Gintoki’s last statement with “figures that’s the case. That’s what you get for living in such a cheap part of town. Maybe if you ever got a real job you could avoid interacting with so many sketchy individuals.”

With a huff of fake hurt Gintoki practically whined “how dare you imply that my line of work is not a real job. The Yorozuya is a perfectly reputable business staffed by only the best!”

“As if! That business is more suspicious than most professional fraudsters I arrest” Hijikata shot back without missing a beat.

As the conversation quickly dissolved into pointless bickering Hijikata couldn’t help but wonder how many times in the past he had missed the tiny signs of Gintoki being upset. Sure, Gintoki usually didn’t hide when he was unhappy. More often than not he would whine like a two year old for all to hear about what wrong had supposedly occurred.

However that was just petty, meaningless stuff. The real pain was what was important, and that was something that Hijikata had never noticed before. The real question that haunted him as he sat there arguing about nothing was _is it the situation that makes Gintoki more sensitive to memories of his past or has he always been struggling with it and I never knew him enough to notice?_     

Eventually the argument fizzled out since neither party was actually too worked up over it to begin with. Once again Hijikata found himself sitting side by side with the silver haired man, at a loss for words. It was so surreal to be in the same space and be able to just relax with the other samurai. It seemed that back on earth there were never quiet moments like this. Every encounter was full of energy and high emotions, and usually an explosion or two.

The only time the two could come to a sort of truce was when they both ordered food at the same time at the one restaurant that would serve their personalized “unique” bowls of rice. Even then it would more often than not spiral into arguing about sweet versus savory tastes and the value of red beans compared to mayo.

The irony struck Hijikata then, that it was that pointless arguing that had led them to this state. An argument over some pointless thing that spilled into the street one dark night. It was hard to believe that had only been a few days ago, a week at most. It was hard to keep track of time but it honestly felt like it had been months ago. Yet it was that same bickering that kept their spirits high during this whole fiasco.

The paradox was frustrating to Hijikata. The more he thought about it the less it made any sort of sense. Analyzing their interactions got him nowhere towards the ultimate purpose of such thoughts. As much as he wanted to pin down his feeling about the silver haired man, he just felt more confused. The unexpected heat had changed things, but it felt like that had only been the start of everything shifting.

It didn’t matter though, soon they would be escaping and that would be the end of it. It was probably just the prolonged exposure to the other man that had caused this change. Once they were back in their normal lives, everything would go back to the way it had been before. Everything needed to go back to normal, because Hijikata couldn’t make head or tails of the shifting dynamic, and he didn’t like the feeling of being in the dark.

He had no way of knowing how Gintoki felt about all of this, and there was no way in hell he would ask such a thing. But surely the other man felt the same way? After all he had no reason to want to see there relatively stable and predictable dynamic change either, right?

Before Hijikata could let his mind wander away further the sound of feet coming closer snapped him back to the present.

“Show time” Gintoki said with a wild grin, and then winked at Hijikata like it was all a big game.

Before he could reply with some sort of insult about being an idiot, the door to their cage was opened by one of the guards. Predictably two more came into the cell and escorted the two men out into the hallway.

There were seven amanto in the hallway. Three minotaur guards and Hiarak made up half of the group. Two of those guards were holding Gintoki and himself. The third one, who had opened the door to the cell and stepped back to stand by Hiarak. Hijikata was pleased to see that the minotaur was also carrying both his katana and Gintoki’s bokutō.

The other three amanto in the room were comprised of two large and bulky amanto who looked vaguely like traditional boar demons and one surprisingly human looking amanto. The boar like ones were obviously hired muscle, probably the guards of the other amanto.

That meant the humanish looking one had to be the buyer. Hijikata was rather surprised that the plain looking creature was so wealthy and vengeful to spend 200 billion yen on two humans. The amanto was tall and on the skinny side with tan skin. The only thing that gave away its non-human status was the long deep green hair it had and the reptilian shaped eyes that were a bright gold color. Otherwise it looked more like a plain businessman than a strange alien. It was even wearing a casual suit that didn’t seem to match the implied wealth it apparently had.  

Tensions were definitely high in that little space. Both samurai were standing side by side, each held by a minotaur, facing Hiarak and the buyer. God Hijikata wanted to attack then and there, even with the two new guards, he was sure between Gintoki and himself, they could take down everyone. But the constant pressure from the band around his wrist helped to remind him why they had to wait for the perfect moment.

It was Hiarak that broke the silence, either unaware or uncaring of the tension in the room “as promised, the Demonic Vice Chief of the Shinsengumi and the Joi Patriot Shiroyasha.”

Both men bristled at the enthusiastic tone that Hiarak was using. Obviously, he was in a good mood and that made both of them want to punch that smug asshole in the face.

“You never disappoint Hiarak, I couldn’t believe it when I heard both of them were up for sale, but here they are now. You really are amazing at what you do” the green haired amanto said in a surprisingly deep voice.

“Don’t talk about us like were not hear assholes” Hijikata spat out venomously, fed up with their attitudes already.

The amanto turned to look at them and Hijikata had to admit he was surprised by how intense that golden eyed stare was.

“The human makes a good point. Shall we hurry this up? I must admit to being impatient to acquire my new goods” the amanto said with a nasty smirk.

“Perhaps you are right Tatsuo” Hiarak replied before waving to his guards.         

 Seemingly out of nowhere the boar like guards pulled out what looked like leather and chain restraints.

“I know these aren’t as fancy as Hiarak’s paralyzing bracelets but they should suffice until we reach my home” Tatsuo said as the new guards started to walk towards the two men.

“Didn’t peg you as the type who would be into the kinky stuff” Gintoki drawled lazily in a tone that never failed to annoy.

As he said it though the two samurai shared a quick look of communication. They had to escape before those things went on. The design would definitely cause trouble. It seemed to be a leather collar and belt connected down the back with a length of chain. Then leather cuffs connected to the chain down the back making it nearly impossible to use those hands once restrained. Not to mention how degrading it would be to wear a collar like some pet.

Hiarak shuffled around in a pocket before pulling out the remote to the bracelets. Hijikata felt like his heart was pounding twice as fast as he waited for the three eyed amanto to disarm the bracelets. It would only be a few seconds, but that should be enough time, it would have to be enough.

Like a hawk the raven haired samurai watched Hiarak as he finally moved his finger to press a button on the remote. However as soon as he did, Hijikata felt the damningly familiar sensation of not having any control over his body. Instead of disarming the bracelets Hiarak activated them instead. Thanks to the guard behind him, Hijikata didn’t crumple to the floor. Instead he was guided to kneel on the ground.

Laughing Hiarak took advantage of the two humans being rendered silent “did you really think I wouldn’t catch on to your little escape plan? Especially when you felt the need to talk about it right in front of my guards? Sure most can’t speak Japanese but didn’t you ever take a second to think about the first guard that visited you two in your cell? He spoke to you in Japanese, funny how you seemed to forget about him so quickly.”

Hijikata was caught between three strong emotions, not sure which was the predominant one. On one hand he was freaking out about the plan falling apart that quickly and kicking himself for forgetting about that first guard. However he was distracted from the situation by how much he wanted to strangle Hiarak for constantly coming across as a smug ass.

But there was one other emotion that was warring for control. He was going to throttle Gintoki for spilling the plan, especially after being so confident that it was fine to talk about it with the guards around. Bitterly he thought to himself _I’m never listening to that idiot again! This is all his fault, that damn fool!_

Hiarak continued to talk as Hijikata was forced into the restraints by the two boar guards, it would only be a matter of time before they moved onto Gintoki. 

“I set the bracelets to reengage a second after the effect wares off. It was convenient I was able to time it at the auction. So handy don’t you think? I’ll just leave that little cycle on until you are restrained properly” Hiarak stated as he walked around behind Hijikata.

After the last leather cuff was attached to the chain, Hiarak finally removed the bracelet from Hijikata’s wrist. The sound of the metal popping off was not nearly the relief it should have been. The raven-haired man was still restrained, they had lost their best chance to escape.

He could do nothing but watch, unable to even turn his head away, as the boar guards walked over to Gintoki with the other harness. He didn’t want to watch this but he was stuck watching as the guards knelt down behind the white haired man to start attaching the restraints.

Tatsuo was standing in the corner watching with poorly hidden glee. Hiarak was standing behind Gintoki observing. Time seemed to slow down as one of the boar guards reached out to pull down the collar on Gintoki’s yukata to attach the leather band around his neck. However before the guard could touch the white fabric, there was a sudden flurry of movement.

For a second Hijikata couldn’t understand what was happening. But then he was falling forward as the guard behind him was thrown into a wall and didn’t get back up. Instead of crashing into the ground he was suddenly being lifted into the air. It took a second for his brain to catch up but then it hit him like a freight train. Gintoki had somehow taken down all the guards that had been hovering around him in only a matter of seconds and thrown the still paralyzed Hijikata over his shoulder.

Hijikata wanted to protest being carried around in such a manor but he had no way to speak or resist. All he could do was watch as Gintoki took out the last minotaur guard and quickly shoved the katana in his waist band and held onto his wooden sword with his free hand.

Tatsuo was frozen in the corner of the room, staring at the two like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. It was Hiarak that actually moved to block Gintoki, hysteria in his voice.

“Stop this right now! Don’t you realize you’re ruining everything? How are you even moving right now?” and for once arrogance was gone from his tone, instead panic was clear in his voice.

Pausing for only a moment the white-haired man couldn’t resist taunting back “its called faking, look it up. I just let you think I was paralyzed for longer than this useless mayo freak on my shoulder.”

“Fine!” Hiarak shouted in desperation “I’ll just override the program and paralyze you now!”

In the blink of an eye Gintoki swatted the remote control from Hiarak’s hand with his bokutō. It shattered on the floor with a satisfying crunch. Before Hiarak could say anything more Gintoki had pushed past him and was heading up the stairs.

There was the sound of a splash and then panicked screaming as Hiarak no doubt fell into the large puddle of some sort of liquid that had been next to the stairs. Hijikata had no way of knowing if Gintoki had picked up on that fear of Hiarak or if it was a happy accident but he was smiling internally at the sounds of distress coming from the merchant.

Just after they emerged back outside Hijikata got the feeling back in his body. He instantly started to fight against the man holding him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Put me down already!” he yelled as he did his best to escape Gintoki’s grasp.

Despite running at a full sprint with a grown man over his shoulder the white-haired man managed to reply in short bursts “No time. Have to make it to the city. Need cover. Gonna find an alley or something.”   

Hijikata was still pissed but decided to save his energy. No doubt they would be pursued soon, and Gintoki was fast as hell. He had bigger things to worry about, like the bracelet still on Gintoki’s wrist and whether or not it was still on.

It only took a few minutes of running until they were back in the city, luckily the auction platform was right next to the sprawling town. The white clad man ducked into one of the many alleys and threw Hijikata down on the ground.

Growling at the rough treatment, Hijikata quickly turned to give the Yorozuya a piece of his mind. But he stopped when he saw how Gintoki was leaning heavily against the wall, breathing hard and faintly trembling. Whatever adrenaline that had been fueling him since he started the escape had apparently worn off.

Whatever biting remark he was about to make was replaced by “what the hell was that all about?” try as he might, he couldn’t keep the humor from his voice.

“Oh you know” Gintoki said between pants “just a badass plan B. I had to do something since someone was no help yet again.”

Hijikata couldn’t even be offended because _holy crap that just happened_ and Gintoki had managed to pull that crap off.

“Yeah, yeah you got to save the day again. I’ll buy you a parfait when we get back. Now would you get this stupid harness off me?” and despite the humiliation of being out of the fight again, he couldn’t be mad because they had managed to make it out.

“I’m only helping you for that parfait, so it better be a good one” the white clad samurai said with a smile as he started to walk over to Hijikata who was sitting on the ground “also once I get you free, I need you to cut the bracelet off my hand with your sword. I trust you can do that without cutting my hand off right? I don’t trust…”

But before he could finish his sentence he suddenly stopped moving and collapsed a few feet away from Hijikata. Despite being paralyzed Hijikata could practically read in those red eyes _I knew I couldn’t trust the bracelet to be turned off! That would just be too easy because when is it ever easy? Never, that’s when._

Sighing in frustration Hijikata stood up and walked over to the sprawled-out man “damnit Yorozuya, couldn’t you have lasted just a few minutes longer?”

Gintoki of course remained silent and Hijikata tried to figure out how the hell he was going to get himself free with the other man out of commission.

To make matters more complicated, Gintoki had landed on his side, half covering up Hijikata’s katana.

“I hate you so much right now” he mumbled under his breath as he attempted to roll the silver samurai over without the use of his hands. Instead he used his foot and pushed Gintoki to land on his back and free the katana.

He was in the middle of trying to grab the hilt of his sword without looking using the hands behind his back when there was a sudden commotion from outside of the alleyway. It was a safe guess that the search party had come out after them. Mentally cursing Hijikata looked around but saw nothing they could hide behind. The alley wasn’t a dead end but with Gintoki frozen there was no way to make a run for it.

All he could do was stay still and hope the search party would go by them. Gintoki was flat on the ground and the white of his outfit actually blended in with the light grey concreate fairly well. Hijikata’s black outfit made it easier for him to hide up against the wall in the shadows.

As the seconds trickled by, Hijikata waited for Gintoki to regain movement. If they could just run or fight, they could get out of this situation. The two of them together, armed, could take out dozens of enemies, no sweat. But they wouldn’t be able to do anything if Gintoki was paralyzed and Hijikata was tied up.

Of course life couldn’t be easy and the guards started to come down the alleyway. They spotted Gintoki pretty quick after they ventured close enough. They were instantly around him and Hijikata felt sick at the sight. They hadn’t spotted him yet, and for the briefest of seconds he considered making a run for it while they were distracted. But he dismissed it immediately. Gintoki had stuck by him twice now, Hijikata couldn’t leave him behind now of all times. There was also a little part of him, one he would never admit, who recognized Gintoki as _his Omega_ and refused to leave his side.  

Instead, in a rash move, Hijikata leapt out of the shadows, using the element of surprise to attack. Even without weapons or hands, Hijikata managed to kick a few guards across the narrow alleyway, and they stayed down. However it was short lived and before he knew it, he was face down on the ground, two guards pinning him down.

It was around then that Gintoki regained movement and he desperately tried to buck off the two guards holding him down. But without any leverage, there was no way to free himself, no matter how strong he was.

Down the alley came a set of slow, measured steps. Twisting his head, Hijikata was able to see that it was Tatsuo. The amanto looked like he was perfectly relaxed as he strolled over to Gintoki. With a quick hand motion, Gintoki was maneuvered to a kneeling position.

“Would you look at this” the amanto said with a sneer “the great Shiroyasha reduced to this, kneeling in an alleyway like an animal, how the mighty fall.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again everyone for all your amazing support. I swear the life blood of a writer is kudos and comments. Also thanks to Filling_the_Empty for proof reading!


	8. Never Underestimate the Rejuvenating Power of One Normal Nap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Gintoki's POV. Also special announcement at the end of the chapter... Don't worry its the good kind...

“How the mighty fall” rang in Gintoki’s ears. It wasn’t that he was particularly offended by the statement. He could care less about what some rich asshole amanto thought about him. It was just strange how pleased the amanto sounded about it. Last time he checked he hadn’t done anything to warrant some random rich dude to hate him, much less one from a different planet. Also the fact that it was directed at him personally and not at both him and Hijikata.

The amanto had bought both of them for equal prices, so why was he getting such a hate vibe while the Shinsengumi dog was being ignored? If the amanto was more interested in him, that made this sort of his fault for attracting the unwanted attention. If that was the case, then he would never hear the end of it from the other samurai. He didn’t even get to win the bet, so it was all rather unfair in his opinion.   

Mostly though Gintoki was just really, really sick of this whole mess. He was tired of being paralyzed. He was tired of being held down and forced to kneel. He was tired of being captured in alleyways (honestly, he couldn’t figure out why he had thought going into another alleyway was a good idea considering that is how this all started in the first place). But most of all he was sick of stuck up bastards acting all high and mighty and constantly talking down to him.

He wanted to yell and glare at the amanto in front of him but knew from experience that these types always got more wound up from indifference. Instead he kept his expression blank and pushed down the urge to pointlessly lash out. Instead he decided to remain quiet for now and let Tatsuo rant for a bit. The bad guys always revealed all kinds of info they shouldn’t when allowed go off on long spiels. It always worked in Jump, and it worked in life too.  

Just as Gintoki had predicted Tatsuo continued to talk, “after all this time, it fascinates me that someone once so feared could become so weak. Its almost sad really, all this effort only to be rewarded with a ghost of a warrior.”

Internally Gintoki sighed, just what he needed, another person obsessed with his past. Granted it figured someone who dropped 100 billion yen on him was bound to be obsessed but being face to face with it was just annoying. Gintoki made it a point to leave the past in the past, whether it be vengeance or just old tabs at all the restaurants he frequented. Life was all about moving forward after all. 

Tatsuo’s face slowly started to pull into a scowl at the obvious “don’t give a fuck” vibe he was getting from Gintoki. That made things a little better, always good to know his patented (ok not patented but it should be) dead fish eye stare was as strong as ever.

“You don’t even care, do you?” Tatsuo asked in a rhetorical tone, “you destroyed countless lives, mine included, yet you could care less…”

He probably would have continued ranting if Hijikata hadn’t chosen that moment to interrupt him “you sound like an ex-girlfriend more than a big bad villain, get over yourself.”

Gintoki couldn’t help the snort that came out after hearing that. He could just imagine Hijikata being angry at being ignored and deciding to remind Tatsuo that he existed.

“Besides” Hijikata continued, “how terribly wronged could you be if you are doing well enough to drop 200 billion yen at an auction for a couple of humans? You don’t seem to be suffering all that much to me.”

Surprisingly, instead of the mini tantrum Gintoki was expecting the amanto to have, a smirk formed on Tatsuo’s face instead.

“Your _absolutely_ right, my current wealth is a result of the Shiroyasha. I should be _thankful_. Why don’t I show how _thankful_ I am by inviting you to my home? Then I can be a the most _gracious_ of hosts” Tatsuo replied, voice sickening sweet and laced heavily with sarcasm.

Gintoki watched as Tatsuo made another dramatic hand gesture and one of the guards handed him a set of leather restraints. Gintoki wanted to flinch back as the green haired man slowly approached him with a nasty grin on his face. He really didn’t want that collar going on. However he refused to let Tatsuo see his uneasiness. He held the man’s stare with his own, allowing a little fire into his eyes. A silent dare for Tatsuo to risk coming so close.

It was only a few seconds but it felt like hours as the amanto approached Gintoki. He could feel the guards tensing their grips on him, but he was fairly confident that he could shake them off while in this position. Tatsuo leaned down, face hovering just above the silver-haired man, the smirk never leaving his face. Reaching out a hand, the golden-eyed man grabbed Gintoki’s chin, tilting it up and forcing him to look up at the amanto.

Gintoki couldn’t help the slight snarl that curled his lip. No sound came out but he could feel the anger building in his chest. This close he could smell the son of a bitch, some expensive cologne no doubt. He could see how inhuman his eyes were, beyond just being gold there were small scales running under them, giving away the lizard nature of the amanto. This close he could tell how utterly relaxed he was, no type of defense.

He wouldn’t get a second chance, and this was the best opportunity he was bound to get. Gintoki had always been good at going from completely relaxed to attacking in a spit second. He took a mental inventory of his surroundings. Two guards on his right and left, a third in front of him about four feet away. Hijikata behind him five feet away, two guards holding him down. Three more guards about six feet away, two at the front of the alleyway, one at the back.

As Gintoki started counting down in his head, _five… four…_ Tatsuo began speaking once more “I much prefer that look in your eye, but your forgetting one thing…”  

 _One…_ and Gintoki moved. For a split second he lunged forward and up, planning on dealing at least one solid hit to Tatsuo before focusing on the guards. However he only made it a few inches before his felt a familiar shock through his whole being. The juxtaposition between being in full attack mode and completely lifeless was extremely jarring.

 _The bracelet, I completely forgot about the bracelet_. Was all Gintoki could think as he sunk back down into the guards’ hold. Somehow the grip Tatsuo had on Gintoki hadn’t been broken by the brief movement. He was still staring at the man, but now it was only because Tatsuo wanted him to.

“You didn’t think I would waste so much time ranting like an ‘ex-girlfriend’ for no reason, did you?” the green-haired man said as his ever-present smirk morphed into a maniacal smile, “I was counting down the seconds till Hiarak’s little invention kicked in again. I didn’t forget that display you put on at the auction, getting free of a few guards is nothing for you is it? Too bad for you the same tricks don’t work twice.”

He then handed the restraints to one of the guards behind Gintoki, who proceeded to manhandle him into the leather cuffs. It was disorientating, he could still feel everything, yet he couldn’t even twitch at the sensation.

“I’ll put the collar on” Tatsuo said to the guard behind Gintoki after the lower part of the restraints were in place. Then switching his focus to the samurai, he stated “I want to know why the threat of these restraints was enough to distract you from the band on your wrist. What are you hiding?”

Gintoki could do nothing as Tatsuo reached for the top of his yukata and pulled down the fabric enough to expose his full neck. His head had fallen forward after Tatsuo let go of his chin, but he could hear the slight intake of breath as the amanto spotted what Gintoki didn’t want him to see. As fingers gently brushed over the matting mark on his neck, Gintoki wanted to lash out and scream because it was still fresh, and sensitive, and somewhere deep down, it made Gintoki feel vulnerable.

Tatsuo started to laugh, and the silver-haired man knew that he would forever despise the sound of that laugh.

“Would you look at this?” Tatsuo said, speaking more to himself than anyone else, “the great and fearsome Shiroyasha has a mate. How sickeningly sweet. Its fresh too, I hope I didn’t interrupt any honeymoons.”

He let out a sharp laugh before continuing, “but if I’m not mistaken, this is the mark of an Omega. Oh the irony, the great demon is just a bitch. No wonder you seem so tame, some else already put you in your place, didn’t they?”

A loud snarl rang out in the alleyway, and Gintoki could tell in a sixth sense kind of way that Tatsuo was no longer looking at him. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as the amanto stood up and walked past him, no doubt to go confront the man who made that noise.

“Someone is a little wound up aren’t they?” Tatsuo said as Gintoki listened “I bet you’re an Alpha aren’t you Hijikata?”

There was some shuffling as Gintoki assumed that Tatsuo reached out towards Hijikata’s neck and Hijikata attempted to get free but was unable to.

“So sad, the vice-chief doesn’t have a mate. I’ve heard unmated Alphas can get protective of an Omega, even one that is already taken. Do your instincts override your morals? Feeling upset that I insulted an Omega, even though he is your sworn enemy?” Tatsuo taunted, but Hijikata remained silent, probably glaring instead of replying.

If he could Gintoki would have sighed in relief. He was afraid of Tatsuo figuring out how close he was to Hijikata. If he thought they were enemies he was more likely to keep them together to piss each other off. It would be even worse if he knew they were mates. Accidentally or not, there was a connection there now, and he didn’t want to know how Tatsuo would exploit that. Hijikata had a short temper but at least he wasn’t blabbing. It was good to know he and the Shinsengumi dog were on the same wave length at least this one time.  

He listened as footsteps approached him, no doubt Tatsuo’s, addressing the guards the green-haired man announced “go ahead and sedate them and let’s get going. I want them knocked out before the paralysis wares off.”

 _Sedate?_ Gintoki thought to himself before he felt a telling prick on the side of his neck. It was a strange feeling, both hot and cold as numbness quickly spread though his body. His last thoughts as his head began to fell fuzzy were _I’m so, so done with passing out._

The next period of time was a blur. He woke up at one point to the sensation of moving. Although with his disorientated senses, he couldn’t tell if it was the movement of a vehicle or a spacecraft. He managed to open his eyes a for a few seconds, just enough to see grey walls and the ugly face of one of the boar guards. He thought he could hear talking, but it sounded like it was coming down a tunnel instead of right next to him. Then there was another prick on his neck and everything faded out again. 

He woke up a few more times, but never for longer than a moment or two. Once he thought he saw a flash of black out of the corner of his eye but before he could focus on it, he was out again. Sometimes he just passed out on his own, sometimes to the prick of a needle. It was impossible to gauge time, but he was pretty sure a lifetime or two had passed. At least that’s how it felt.

Gintoki could tell something was different as he woke up once more. For one he could feel his fingers and toes again after being in a constant state of numbness for who knows how long. Second, his head didn’t feel like it was stuffed with cotton, no it felt like someone had hit him over the head with a hammer. It was like his worst hang over times ten. Lastly his arms were to the side of him instead of tied up behind his back. The restraints were gone at last.

He didn’t want to open his eyes, but he knew he had to. Doing so revealed that he was laying on his back and that he was still surrounded by grey walls. However this time he had the energy to look around. While just turning his head made pain explode behind his eyes, it was worth it to see the spot of black against all the monotone grey.

Never would he admit the sheer amount of relief he felt at seeing Hijikata sprawled out on the floor beside him. He had hoped that they would be left together, and it seemed that for once he was getting his way. The raven-haired man was still dead to the world, but Gintoki could see the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

He was laying on his back just as Gintoki was, implying that the guards had dumped them in here to recover from whatever drugs had been pumped into their systems to keep them knocked out. He didn’t like that they were on their backs though.

Being around drunks regularly, and being totally wasted himself more than once, he knew that it was dangerous to leave someone recovering on their backs. If they got nauseous, they could throw up, and then choke on it and suffocate. Not a way he ever wanted to go, that’s for sure.

Despite the intense pounding in his head, the red eyed man rolled onto his stomach and tried to push himself up. He got to the point of being on his hands and knees before his vision began to swim. His shoulders ached from being tied up so long but if he tried to stand up he was going to pass out again.

He collected himself for a moment before slowly crawling over to Hijikata. He didn’t feel nauseous but there was no telling what side effects would come from the amanto drugs. After all this, he was not risking him or Hijikata dying from something as stupid as being on their backs at the wrong time. With a herculean effort Gintoki managed to roll Hijikata onto his side.

Considering his drained energy reserves, it was not surprising that Gintoki immediately fell down after managing that one feat. He was uncomfortably close to Hijikata but there was no way he was going to be able to move right now. He honestly couldn’t bring himself to care about it. Instead he used the last bit of his strength to roll onto his side and proceeded to pass the fuck out. He figured at least his face was a better sight to wake up to then staring at the grey walls of yet another prison cell.

Gintoki was having a great sleep. There was something very relaxing about having a normal sleep after so many days of induced comas. From being knocked out with sleeping gas on earth, to the pre-heat resting, to the post-heat slumber, to the string of needle injections, it felt like ages since he had a natural nap. Deep down, it was also comfortable to be resting so close to his Alpha, but that was probably just a tiny factor. Not even worth mentioning really.

However, as all good things, it wasn’t meant to last. Whatever peace he had while sleeping was shattered by the outraged cry of “what the hell do you think you’re doing Yorozuya!?!”

Begrudgingly opening his eyes, Gintoki could only see deep blue. He was definitely closer to Hijikata then when he had fallen asleep. All he could focus on was the gunmetal blue of the other man’s eyes. The growing anger and embarrassment in them was really just an unexpected bonus.  

“Apparently not sleeping anymore” Gintoki mumbled as he attempted to sit up, but quickly aborted that mission and went back to laying down.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it asshole” Hijikata spat, but the slight blush on his cheeks ruined the intimidating tone “what were you doing so close? Do you want them to get suspicious?”

Rolling onto his back and placing his arms behind his head as a makeshift rest Gintoki flatly replied “as much as I enjoy seeing you blush like a school girl, I didn’t do anything. The guards probably did that to get us wound up. They think we’re mortal enemies remember? A Joi patriot and a Shinsengumi member, they probably hoped we tear each other’s throats out.”

Gintoki lied for two main reasons. The first was that he was slight pissed at being woken up so rudely after finally sleeping and didn’t particularly feel like admitting that he had done anything nice. The second reason was that he wanted to see if he could still lie to Hijikata. He had heard stories of Alphas that could practically read the mind of their Omegas and pick up on any deceit. That seemed like a really shitty deal and he was hoping it was just a myth.

“Tsk” Hijikata said as he sat down next to Gintoki, but not nearly as close as they had been earlier “what does that green-haired freak want with us I wonder?”

“Although…” he continued with a small grin “if his idea of torture is to lock us up together, he is more sadistic then I gave him credit for. I can’t imagen a worse fate then being stuck with you all the time.”

Quick as lighting, Gintoki reached out and punched the black-haired man in the arm before replying “feeling is mutual jerk. I’m sure you would rather be out robbing hard working folk like myself of their taxes but you’re just going to have to deal with it.”

“Who you calling a tax-thief? And your delusional if you think you’re hard working. I doubt that mockery of a business you run has ever had enough income to warrant paying taxes, you good for nothing freeloader” Hijikata quickly replied as he returned the punch by hitting Gintoki’s shoulder.

Considering his options and thinking about what a mature adult would do in this situation, the silver haired man immediately did the opposite and kicked Hijikata in the leg before replying “money this and profit that, as a government servant, especially a police officer, you should know that some businesses are about helping people, not the bottom line.”

As Gintoki watched the tick mark appear on Hijikata’s forehead he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. The other samurai might be pissed but it had nothing to do with Gintoki’s lie. It seemed that he was safe in his own head still. Considering how obsessed Tatsuo seemed to be, it was only a matter of time before things from his past started to come up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Hijikata to know anything, but he did want the option of omitting some things. There was plenty better left unsaid.

As the argument quickly dissolved into a wrestling match on the floor Gintoki reflected on the situation. I was doubtful that Tatsuo was going to just leave them alone in a cell forever. It was even less likely that he would be a “gracious” host when he did show up. He could see the worry in Hijikata’s eyes as well. He was always so easy to read, or maybe it was just because Gintoki had grown up with someone similar (unwanted but treasured memories of purple hair and green eyes, of competitive spirt and unshakable trust).

Regardless Gintoki was content to forget about the problems at hand for a bit. It felt damn nice to fall into the pattern of bickering and fighting once more. It was probably the same for Hijikata. For just that moment, before everything changed again, Gintoki was content to let the sense of normalcy distract him from the situation they were in. For as long as it could.       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Despite all odds I manged to post another chapter. Thank you everyone for all your support! Also I have exciting news. My roommate had drawn me some incredible fan art for this fic. If you like it, please let her know so she will draw more amazing art for Gintama! Please check it out on her tumbler [Erotic Art and Garbage](https://eroticartandgarbage.tumblr.com/tagged/gintama)


	9. Door 1 and 2 Might be Ok but Beware Door Number 3

Ok so maybe playing into the perm head’s teasing wasn’t the smartest move on Hijikata’s part. Waking up to nothing but Gintoki’s sleeping face right next to him had been a shock. It brought back memories he was firmly trying to forget (or futilely repress, same difference right?). It wasn’t his fault that he had slightly freaked out and immediately started to move away and yell at him. And ok, so he might have been a little wound up from all that, and Gintoki might have been way too chill about it, and maybe he just really needed to stop thinking about it. So in conclusion because of circumstance outside of his control he may of sort of turned “friendly” punching into a fight on the floor, but honestly when looking at the situation at hand it really wasn’t his fault at all.

Turned out trying to get a choke hold on Gintoki was both easier and harder than he expected. It wasn’t difficult to tell that the silver haired man wasn’t fighting back all that hard. Now this may have been because Gintoki was trying to be mature and not escalate things, but Hijikata would bet on Kondou finally hooking up with Otae before he would bet on the red eyed man acting like an adult by choice. No it was clear that whatever drugs that had been used to keep them asleep weren’t out of his system quite yet. However that implied that the drugs were still affecting Hijikata too.

After only a few moments of intense (but probably much less intense then it seemed) fighting, both men came to an unspoken truce and settled down. Turned out wrestling on the floor was slightly more tiring then either had expected. Despite no clear winner, Hijikata felt much better (mentally of course, physically he felt like he had been hit by Sougo’s bazooka).

It was stupid but somehow everything just seemed a little better when he was fighting the other man. It was a constant, something solid to focus on. From the start their relationship had been built on conflict. Later it morphed into something closer to rivalry, but that was all just semantics. He didn’t particularly feel like trying to define what it was now. Everything was too much of a mess to even try.

Even if he had wanted to sit and ponder things, he wasn’t given a chance because it was then that Tatsuo decided to show up.

The room they were in now was much like the one they had been stuck in on Hiarak’s spaceship. Except instead of a three eyed merchant there was a green haired business man of the other side of the bars. Assholes came in all shapes and sizes it would seem.

“You two are great, only awake for a half an hour at the most and you’re already fighting” Tatsuo said as he paced in front of the bars with his hands held behind his back. It was a weirdly academic look when matched with the nice sky-blue button up collar shirt and black dress pants he was wearing.

Tatsuo paused his movements and brought one hand up to his chin in the universal symbol of pondering and continued speaking “what to do, what to do. You would think I would have some grand plan on what to do next, but I don’t. Years of wanting to get my hands on you two should have left me more prepared. It matters little though, we will just have to wing it. These last ten years have been plan this and contract that. It will be so nice to have something a little more chaotic and unpredictable.”

Hijikata bristled at the growing excitement in Tatsuo’s voice, however before he could say anything, Gintoki spoke first “Wow, that pretty sad. Your idea of excitement is two guys stuck in a cell? That a pretty lame decision. If you are bored with life, get a girlfriend or something. Or just buy one since that seems more your speed. Invest in gambling or alcohol. Honestly anything is better then this sad set up. I know I’m the life of any party but mister brooding next to me takes all the fun out of everything.”

He knew that now was not the time to get into an argument with the silver haired moron, Hijikata couldn’t help responding “like hell you’re the life of a party. You are the type who just goes to get free food then gets drunk and passes out making your friends have to lug your dumb ass home.”

Hijikata watched in amusement as Gintoki started looking totally offended at those comments. However before a response could be made Tatsuo started to speak again.

“As much fun as it is to watch you two argue, I have something else to do in mind” then he snapped his fingers and a large group of boar guards showed up seemingly out of nowhere. 

It only took a few moments for the two samurai to be dragged out of the room they were in. Once escorted outside, they found themselves in a rather drab hallway. There were random metal doors dotting the hallway, all of them closed. Slight cracks were visible occasionally in the walls and ceiling and the sound of dripping water could be heard even though there was no sign of water anywhere. Everything was grey and lifeless, and the lights overhead occasionally flickered like some kind of B-rated horror movie.

Despite knowing it was all just a subtle intimidation move, Hijikata couldn’t help but feel creeped out. Slowly they were led down the hallway, curiosity and trepidation keeping the two men mostly complacent. After all that big talk they were finally going to see what this whole ridiculous kidnapping thing was about.

The hallway was one long corridor, occasionally it made a turn but never branched off. They didn’t have to walk very long however until the guards suddenly stopped outside of a random door that didn’t seem much different then the several they had already passed by.

Tatsuo motioned towards the door “this room will suffice for the vice chief” then pointing one by one to several of the guards he continued “I want you guys to stay here with him and do what you do best, the rest come with me to the next room.”

The raven haired samurai didn’t like the sound of that one bit. However before he had a chance to protest too much, he was being shoved into the room by several guards and the hallway was quickly sealed off by the closing door. The last thing he saw was Gintoki beginning to yell at Tatsuo before the door clicked shut, cutting off all sound from outside.

_Great_ Hijikata thought to himself _a soundproof room, that’s not troubling at all…_ Looking around the room only increased his sense of foreboding. The room was fairly barren, but a few features stood out. One was the chain hanging down from the ceiling. It didn’t take a genius to figure out it was for stinging people up. There was a wall of various objects, everything from crops and whips to wooden staffs, and even a few maces. He really hoped some of the heavier looking maces were just for intimidation, one swing would probably break bones.  

Perhaps more troubling though was the seemingly innocent shower drain in the center of the tiled floor and the water hose hanging on the wall. It was like the room was made with the intent of easy clean up of various messes being made. The vibe of efficiency the room was built with freaked him out more then he liked to admit. Tatsuo may have claimed to have no big plan, but this room spoke the opposite.

Despite the seriously bad feeling Hijikata was getting, he was determined to stay focused. Yes the wall was intimidating, but it also was a good opportunity to get ahold of a weapon. There were six guards in the room with him, but they were only armed with what looked like a variant of a police baton. He could take them if he could only get ahold of some kind of weapon. He was escorted towards the chain, but he didn’t fight back because that took him near the wall. He just had time it all right.

Except instead of trying to man handle him into the restraints like he expected, one of the guards suddenly sucker punched him in the gut. _Son of a bitch_ Hijikata thought to himself as he reflexively hunched over after getting the wind knocked out of him. They played him good alright, psyching him out with the chains and wall just so they could distract him long enough to land a hit.

However he wasn’t going to be dropped by one hit to the gut. He started to straighten up again, only to be hit across the back causing him to stumble forward a bit. It was then that one of the guards kicked him in the back of the knee and the combination had Hijikata falling to the floor.

As soon as he was down all the guards started to kick him relentlessly. Hijikata did his best to lessen the blows by dodging and protecting his chest and head but it was hard to focus with so many opponents.

At one point he got the chance to grab one of the guard’s legs, causing the boar to stumble and fall backwards. Using the moment of reprieve, the samurai managed to get up to his knees before a different guard grabbed him by the hair and pulled hard. Even though it was just hair, it hurt like a bitch and in that second he was distracted again that another guard delivered a wicked right hook to his face. The impact was so strong it ripped him out of the hold of the first guard and he slammed into the floor. His head was ringing from the double impact.

He was hauled back up to a kneeling position only for the guards to start laying into him again. He could taste blood in his mouth and when the beating paused for a second, he ran his tongue along his teeth before smiling.

 Breaking the weird silence of the guards he taunted “You weak bastards, this is nothing. What the hell are you trying to accomplish? Giving me a massage?” then he spat out a glob of blood and spit at the nearest guard before finishing with “I’d say this is some pretty shitty service.”

It wasn’t a surprise when the guards took offense to that little statement and renewed the beating with twice the vigor. Still Hijikata felt better for at least getting one verbal barb in. It wasn’t much but he refused to beg or cry. Instead he kept a defiant face as it went on and on.

One guard would really lay into him for a while before their knuckles started to turn bloody with their own blue blood and another would take over. _Weak_ was all Hijikata could think. They had to take fucking turns because they weren’t tough enough. But even weaklings could be strong in number. Every time Hijikata tried to get up and fight back he was ruthlessly beaten back down. Old memories of being ganged up on as a teenager came and went without a second thought. He wasn’t some kid anymore, this wasn’t enough to beat him.

Yet his body continued to be pummeled, and slowly he started to go numb. That was dangerous, he knew numb was always worse than pain, but his head was spinning too much to focus anymore. At one point he noticed some of the blood that was spilling for his mouth had stared to run down the drain in the room and had a strange sense of validation about being right about its purpose.

It was strange, the pattern of the beating. Even though Hijikata had stopped fighting back the level of the hits had not increased. He could tell they were holding back, none of his bones had been broken and they had avoided hitting him in places like his solar plexus which could cause fatal internal bleeding. It suddenly dawned on him, _they want to keep me alive._ Of course, this was about pain, but not death, torture not execution. It didn’t make it hurt less, but it did reassure him that he wasn’t going to die like this, beaten on the ground by a bunch of nobody thugs.

At one point he saw another figure in the room. The green hair and bright blue shirt stood out compared to the brown furred and clothed boars. However the blue shirt was sprayed in red. Since the guards had blue blood and Tatsuo no doubt also had some kind of alien colored blood, it wasn’t hard to figure out who it belonged to.

The amount was concerning but Hijikata was finding it hard to focus on the man. He couldn’t hear anything but ringing, and his vision was blurry. He couldn’t tell if he was imagining the whole thing or not. Darkness was creeping into his vision and he knew he was close to passing out, despite he best efforts to hold out as long as possible.    

Yet before he could sink into the peace of oblivion everything just stopped. After such a long time of constant pain, the absence was almost startling. Two guards pulled him up, each grabbing an arm and started dragging him out of the room. The remaining four trailed behind.

As he was dragged out into the hallway, Hijikata had to squint at the light. He hadn’t really registered that the room he had been in was darker until he was back outside. The sudden change had his eyes watering but that was of little concern.

Instead he took as deep of a breath as he could, considering the state he was in. After being stuck in that one room for who knows how long he didn’t realize just how muggy and stale the air had gotten with the stench of blood and sweat. Just the act of breathing in some fresh air was enough to reenergize him, even if it was only slightly.

Still, slightly reenergized from mostly dead was still pretty much dead. He didn’t bother struggling against the guards carrying him. Even though it raked against his pride, he honestly didn’t think he could walk at the moment. Besides it was pretty clear that they were heading back to the cell where he had woken up with Gintoki.

 The layout of the place wasn’t all that hard to figure out it basically only went two directions, towards the dead end that was their cell, and the other way which presumably lead to the outside. That would make escape straightforward, run in one direction till you reach the outdoors.

Hijikata was shaken from his drifting thoughts by the sudden movement of the guards holding him. He hadn’t realized they had reached the cell so quickly and he was thrown ungracefully into it. Of course the amanto had to be asses about it, so of course he was thrown so he would land on the other occupant of the cell.

Granted being cushioned in his fall was nice, but the following curse of “get the hell off me you jerk” wasn’t so great. Hijikata was so not in the mood right now to deal with a pissy Gintoki. Although something about the other man’s voice seemed a little off.

The dark haired man managed to roll off the Yorozuya but didn’t make it much farther than that. He really didn’t have the energy to move much less fight at the moment. One quick glance at Gintoki confirmed that he wouldn’t be moving anytime soon either. He didn’t look closely but the amount of red and purple he did see was enough to figure out they both were a mess right now.

Hijikata focused back on Tatsuo, figuring it was best to pay attention to the amanto for now and worry about the extent of Gintoki’s injuries later. Not like he was super concerned or anything…

The long-haired amanto was holding a medium sized black bag. He threw it into the cell and it landed with a surprisingly loud thud to the right of Hijikata.

“That” Tatsuo began with a dramatic flourish “is a bag of basic medical supplies. I expect you two patch each other up” before either samurai could protest he continued on “I don’t plan on babysitting you two, so do try to get along despite your differences.”

“Do I look like a doctor to you?” Hijikata spat “I’m not playing nurse maid to that idiot and I’m sure as hell not trusting him to look after me.”

Tatsuo merely grinned before responding “It would be in both of your best interests to not let the other die. I would be rather displeased if I lost one of you so soon. If that were to happen I would just have to do twice as much to the one left to make up for the loss.”

That figured, leave it to the sadistic amanto to figure out a way to make two people who didn’t get along have to take care of one other. Granted there wasn’t that much hate between them, but Tatsuo didn’t know that.

The business man turned around and started to leave, the guards dutifully following behind. However before he made it too far, Gintoki spoke up after being weirdly silent “this was all pretty lame Tatsuo, really is the best you can do? You can walk away all dramatic like but I just want you to know I’m still not impressed.”

 The amanto tensed after hearing this, pausing his movements. It seemed Gintoki had hit some kind of nerve although Hijikata had no clue what. He got the feeling Gintoki and Tatsuo had been having quite the conversion when they had been together.

The green haired man turned just slight to address the two samurai, his voice was laced with tightly controlled anger “don’t worry Shiroyasha-san this was nothing more than a test. Like anyone with a new toy, I wanted to see what the limits of your durability and endurance were. I assure you, this is nothing compared to what I have in mind for you two.”

With that threat Tatsuo finally left and the two men were left with silence.

Hijikata couldn’t stand the tension so he broke it with a question “what the hell did you do to piss him off so bad?”

Surprisingly Gintoki just pouted a little before replying “I don’t know, I just figured out the guy really doesn’t like it when I act like I’m looking down at him.”

Hijikata couldn’t tell if he was hiding something or not, but one thing was clear. Gintoki’s voice was definitely messed up. His jaw looked a little swollen, but not enough to hinder his speech. So what was going on? However he didn’t have to ask because Gintoki answered his unspoken question in the next moment.

“What’s with that guy anyway? He literally made me bite my tongue! Said I was talking too much and to ‘bite my tongue’. Then he made me do it! Who does that? This guy is nuts!” the silver hair man ranted before sticking out his tongue as if he could see any damage.  

Hijikata did have to admit it looked a little swollen. That explained the messed up voice. It was kind of hilarious actually. Also considering how worked up the Yorozuya was, it was safe to bet he was not hurt all that bad. Yeah there had been a decent amount of blood on Tatsuo, but Hijikata didn’t see any major cuts or stabs on Gintoki, and he seemed to have plenty of energy.  

“Well maybe there is something in the bag that can help your tongue” Hijikata said after a moment of watching Gintoki freak out.

He sort of doubted there would be anything like a cold compress in the bag but what the hell, might as well check. Even though he felt like shit, he knew he could handle this. Hell he lived with Sougo’s sadistic ass for years, being blown up constantly. Yeah he hurt all over, but he head felt clear again and that made a big difference.  

They would get through this. Beaten up, yeah, but they would get through it. They didn’t have a game plan yet but once they did, they would bust out of here. He just had to focus on that and somehow this mess would be sorted out. But in the meantime, he had a whining, silver perm head to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I am so thankful for all the support I have received. Because everyone has been so great, for this chapter I will be responding to every comment I get.   
> Additionally since all I can do to thank you guys is say thank you and write more, I have a limited time offer. Until I post the next chapter for this story I will take request for short one shots based in the "More Something Breaks the Stronger It Gets" universe. If I like the prompt and feel that it fits in the plot I will write it. I will start posting them in separate collection, so look forward to that. Again thank you everyone and I look forward to hearing from you!


	10. Chains and Whips Can be Exciting but Remember to Always Ask for Consent!

In a not so shocking turn of events the mysterious black bag of medical supplies did not in fact contain anything for a bitten tongue. However Hijikata was fairly convinced that this was a bigger problem for him then Gintoki considering that he now had to listen to the silver haired man complain nonstop. Clearly his tongue couldn’t be hurting too much if he could talk this much.

Tuning out the seemingly never-ending stream of rubbish that was his fellow captive, Hijikata turned his attention to the much more productive task of inventorying the contents of the black bag.

There were not nearly as many medical supplies as he had hoped there would be based on how heavy the bag was. Most of the weight seemed to be from the two large bottles of hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol. Beyond the disinfectants, there was only the bare minimum of supplies. Most of them seemed to be for bandaging and stopping blood loss. Things like gauze bandages and pads and even a few suture needles and a roll of thread.

Hijikata was sure that the prevalence of supplies for large wounds was for intimidation sake, but it still unnerved him that this was the type of supplies that Tatsuo deemed they would need. The raven haired man relayed his findings to the other occupant of the cell in a normal voice, despite the unease he felt.

It seemed that Gintoki was too self-absorbed or just to moronic to pick up on the subtle threat that the medical supplies presented.

“Figures” he replied after Hijikata finished reporting the contents of the bag “of course that jerk wouldn’t include anything to help with my tongue. He was way too happy to cause that injury. Sadistic bastard…” he finished with a grumble.

Hijikata couldn’t take it anymore “Are you serious right now? You just got beat up and all you can think about is your stupid tongue?”

“Why is that so shocking?” Gintoki retorted back “It hurts, plus it was a personal attack! My feelings are equally hurt too.”

For the life of him, Hijikata couldn’t think of one single thing to say to that without starting another verbal sparring match. He couldn’t believe that he had bothered being concerned for the perm head. Deciding to take the moral high ground, the black-haired man simply elected to not reply. The Yorozuya was obviously not critically hurt if a bitten tongue was the biggest grievance he had.

Furthermore, nothing in the bag would be helpful for treating bruises. Hijikata didn’t have any major wounds that would need to be treated and obviously the idiot in the corner was fine. It made more sense to save the medical supplies for more serious injuries. There was nothing to do but heal naturally and wait for whatever was next.

Miraculously Gintoki had seemed to pick up on the fact that Hijikata was tired of the constant complaining and shut up. He was curled up on his side with his back facing the police officer. So maybe it was more accurate that the man was pouting but the result was the same, peace and quiet. Hijikata wasn’t going to complain about it.

The short burst of energy that had kept Hijikata moving up to this point was starting to wear off. Honestly now that things were in a quasi-stable state (or at least as close as he was going to get considering the situation) the raven haired man was ready to just stop moving for a bit. He hurt, the beating he received had been severe even if it had been non-deadly. It was unlikely that Tatsuo would be coming back anytime soon since he didn’t seem to want to inflict too much damage at once.

As far as Hijikata was concerned this was the best time for some much-needed sleep. It was almost instinct to lay down with his back towards Gintoki. By doing so they were situated perpendicular to the cell door. Even if the white haired man was being ridiculous and pouting, Hijikata still trusted him to watch his back. It was surprisingly quiet in the cell, the only sound being the rhythmic breathing of Gintoki. It almost seemed the other samurai had already fallen asleep. Feeling oddly calm after being so mad earlier Hijikata finally allowed exhaustion to take hold.

_He was standing in a field. The wind was softly blowing and the grass in the distance was gently swaying. The smell in the air was the first clue that something was wrong. It was bitter and sour, the smell of black smoke and rot. In a field that should have smelt like fresh dirt and growing grass it was completely out of place. (He knew the smell of a farm, of fields, didn’t he? But didn’t all fields smell of death? Why was it like he was remembering two different memories?)_

_Suddenly he looked down and saw that the grass was gone, instead all he could see around him was human corpses. It was a field of death not life, an impromptu graveyard. Why was he here? This was place for the dead and ghosts. As if not sure of his state of mortality he went to feel his wrist for a pulse._

_That was when he noticed the bruise around his wrists. Against unnaturally pale skin there were dark purple and blue bruises. Further inspection showed various patches of color, reds, blues, purples, yellows and greens. A sickening rainbow of bruises and injuries of different ages. Suddenly he remembered, the villagers had done this. Not his village (he never had a village, never had family. But didn’t he have a mother, a brother?) but just one of the many he had wandered to. Sometimes he got a few handouts, people showing pity because he was a child, but this sort of thing happened more often._

_There was something wrong about him, something that scared people. So the people cased him, beat him, yelled at him. One name in particular was used, time and time again. That was why he was out here among the corpses of dead humans. One other being belonged in this world of decay and death, a **demon**._

Hijikata woke with a start. For the briefest of moments, he was still in that field of death. He could feel those injuries he had just dreamt. Looking at his wrist he saw a bruise in the same spot as before. But then he realized that his skin wasn’t the same color. Instead of the deep purple he had seen in the field, it was a lighter bluish color, and the skin around the injury was not nearly as pale either. The difference was enough to snap him back to the real world.

Reality came crashing back again. Funny how one nightmare had been able to make him forget about being kidnapped. The current situation was clearly messing with his subconscious and causing such vivid and disturbing dreams. Letting out a loud sigh, the police officer mentally shook himself, no time to let himself be distracted by such things.

It was then that a familiarly irritating voice interrupted his inner train of thought, “You look kind of frazzled over there. Have a bad dream Oogushi-kun?”

Instantly feeling embarrassed about being caught having a bad dream of all things, the dark haired man instantly deadpanned back “Yeah, I realized that I was still stuck in a cell with you, can’t think of a worse nightmare.”

It was only after a few seconds that he realized the second half of what Gintoki had said and in a much angrier voice he followed up his last statement with “And who the hell are you calling Oogushi-kun?”

Much to Hijikata’s terror, a sadistic smirk started to form on the white haired man’s face. That’s when he realized he had messed up. The delay in response was all the clue the other man needed to know that the dream remark had hit home.

“What’s this? The big bad Shinsengumi officer had a bad dream? After all the grief you gave me about being upset about my tongue, your shaking in your boots because of a dream?” Gintoki replied in a mocking tone full of laughter.

“Oh shut up” Hijikata half mumbled, furiously fighting an embarrassed blush. In a semi-desperate move he shot back the first thing he could think of “why were you watching me sleep anyway you creep? That’s a classic stalker move right there.”

To his surprise Gintoki didn’t instantly reply. Hijikata looked up and was immensely pleased to see the sadistic smile gone. Instead, dare he say it, Gintoki looked half embarrassed himself.

_Hah!_ Hijikata thought to himself. _The tables have turned!_ Gintoki’s weak protests about being bored and having nothing to do were drowned out by the glee the raven haired man was feeling at not only deflecting Gintoki’s attack but launching an effective counter-attack as well.

Being the strategist that he was, Hijikata was about to launch a full-scale frontal attack when the sound of clapping interrupted them.

It felt like a lead weight had suddenly dropped into Hijikata’s stomach. He knew exactly who was causing that sound and turned to see none other than Tatsuo standing outside their cell. He had hoped that the green haired amanto would leave them alone for a little longer, but it seemed that was not to be. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Gintoki had lost all traces of embarrassment and had reverted to his neutral blank eyed expression.

Tatsuo was clearly way too pleased as he addressed the two men “I just came to check up on you two. I figured you would both be too hurt to have much energy. But here you are, up and about after only ten hours. I thought I would have to give you a few days to rest but I think you two are ready for more after all” The nearly maniacal gleam in his golden eyes was all Hijikata needed to see to know this was not a good turn of events for the two samurai.

“Does your throat get sore from all the talking you do?” Gintoki responded once Tatsuo had stopped his little speech.

Hijikata could see anger flash across Tatsuo’s face before it smoothed out to his normal smug expression. It seemed like too extreme of a reaction from Tatsuo for such a simple jab. Not for the first time, he wondered what connection between Tatsuo and Gintoki was. It seemed the white haired man knew more about the amanto then he was letting on to Hijikata.

“My apologies, it seems my excitement has gotten the best of me” Tatsuo replied once he had gotten ahold of himself again. Looking towards Gintoki he continued “It just that I designed your next session with your past in mind. I am just so excited to show you.”

Yep that confirmed it. Not only was this not going to be good, but Tatsuo defiantly had some sort of extra grudge with Gintoki. As soon as he was alone with the other samurai again, he was going to interrogate the permy haired nuisance until he got an answer out of him.  

That would have to wait though because it was only a few seconds later that Hijikata and Gintoki were once again being paraded out of their cell and down the grey hallway. It was hard to say if Tatsuo was just impatient because he was “excited” or if it was a reaction to Gintoki’s taunts. Either way it was ominous how quickly they were moved.

Unfortunately there wasn’t much Hijikata could do about it at the moment. He was still physically exhausted from the previous day. It even hurt to walk, despite being half supported/dragged by boar guards. The idea of putting up any kind of resistance now seemed like a fantasy. In a way he supposed he should take the situation as a bit of a complement. Tatsuo still deemed them dangerous enough to require so many guards (at least 15 were in the hall with them) even in their current battered state.

With an unexpected bout of déjà vu Hijikata found himself in front of the same door as yesterday. A wave of unease washed over him at the sight of the metal door. He was certain that this time he wasn’t just going to be roughed up a bit.

Just like before, Hijikata was split up from Gintoki and found himself alone with several boar guards in the drab room. All signs of yesterday’s assault were gone, apparently the hose and drain in the room had been put to good use. It was not a reassuring realization.

Hijikata didn’t realize how dangerously lost in his thoughts he was until he was suddenly being manhandled by three guards. Before he had a chance to react his Shinsengumi jacket was half off. Panic and adrenaline coursed through his veins, giving him a much-needed energy boost. Despite this, the jacket was soon on the ground, followed by his vest and shirt.

The guards didn’t seem interested in taking anything else off, but the samurai still felt uncomfortably bare in front of the amanto around him. Stripping him of his shirts was undoubtably a bad sign. The boars then hauled him over to the corner with the chain and manacles hanging from the ceiling. This time it seemed they were not just for show because the guards then started to try and get Hijikata into the cuffs. However the raven haired man was not letting himself be strung up without a fight.

There wasn’t much he could do against several large amanto guards in the state he was in. But pride and adrenaline was enough to make him try. He landed one solid right hook to the closest guard and elbowed another hard enough that they stumbled back a few paces. For a few seconds he was free until a guard on his right managed to backhand him so hard he saw stars. With his head ringing and already sore muscles screaming, he was barely able to put up a fight as he was finally shackled.

The chain was just long enough to allow Hijikata to stand on his toes without putting too much strain on his shoulders and arms. The preparedness and accuracy of the set up made Hijikata’s skin crawl. Just another reminder of how obsessed Tatsuo was.

Unable to move around much due to the heaviness of the chain, Hijikata could only listen as one of the guards moved behind him to the wall of torture tools. He knew it was just another mind game, building up anticipation to scare him more, but not knowing what the guard was grabbing was making Hijikata’s heart pound.

The only warning the samurai received was the sound of a snap before a long, thin line of red hot pain flashed across his back. Logically he knew he should be relieved that the guards had chosen a whip instead of any of the other tools. However it was hard to focus on that when the next crack of leather left another line of searing pain across his back.

After the first few swings Hijikata was starting to adjust to the pain. He was biting his lip to keep from making a sound, but he was keeping his composure. However on the fifth swing, the whip went over the same spot as an earlier hit. Suddenly the flare of agony was four times worse then before. Despite his best efforts a pained grunt left his lips.

There was a pause as the guard behind him started to chuckle. Hijikata sucked in a breath, retort on the tip of his tongue, when another lash hit him in the same exact spot. All the air left his body at the feeling of the flare of pain. It was like someone had dragged a red hot coal down his back. From that point on it seemed the guard focused in on hitting the same few spots again and again. Sometime the whip would stray to another spot and Hijikata couldn’t tell if it was because the torturer missed or just wanted to keep Hijikata from knowing where he would strike next.      

After the first dozen or so Hijikata lost an exact count. For awhile he was able to hold himself up and stay mostly quiet but after what had to be around thirty strikes he couldn’t help but sag into the restraints. The added stress on his shoulders hurt like hell, but he couldn’t get the strength back in his legs to get himself back up. Around the sixty mark he couldn’t stop himself from crying out in pain at each hit. He could feel tears forming but he refused to shed them.

As a Shinsengumi officer he had been taught different mental tricks to resist torture. The problem was that the training had been focused on ways to keep from spilling classified information in the event that Joi rebels ever caught them. However, there was nothing to protect in this situation, no information to guard. He was being whipped for the sake of pain and torture. For the enjoyment of some sadistic amanto freak. Without a cause to protect there wasn’t much Hijikata could focus on besides the anger he felt towards Tatsuo.

He used that hate to keep himself from disgracing himself even more. After what felt like at least a hundred swings his back had started to go numb. He knew that was a very bad sign but couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment. The burn was so complete he barely felt the sting of the whip. He did notice however when there was a pause in the lashings. It seemed that the guards had noticed the lashing wasn’t having the desired effect anymore because he could hear one of them taking something else off the wall.

The weird silence of the guards up till now was broken when one said “five” in heavily accented Japanese. The raven haired man only had a few moments to ponder what that was supposed to mean when suddenly he heard the crack of a whip again. However this time the lash against his back didn’t send a flare of burning hot pain down his back. No, this time it burned, but it burned cold. Even the sound of the whip hitting his back was different. Before it had been a smacking sound, like a leather belt being snapped. This time it was a wet sound, he could hear his flesh being ripped apart. This new whip must have had a metal piece at the end.

Despite his best intentions, Hijikata couldn’t stop the tears that welled up in his eyes. It hurt far worse then the multiple hits of the leather whip before. If earlier it felt like a burning coal down his back, this felt like dry ice cutting through his skin. On some instinctual level he knew real damage was being done.

The next hit was equally bad, and the one after that, and the one after that one. One more hit had him letting out an embarrassingly loud scream but then it stopped. It seemed the five he had been told earlier was a warning about how many hits he was going to receive. Hijikata was too busy trying to catch his breath again to think too deeply about it though. Instead he was focusing on whether or not he could still feel his fingers and toes. His hands had gone numb after being shackled for so long but he could still tell they were there. He could move his toes too. It seemed the last five hits had avoided his spine. Distantly he figured that made sense since Tatsuo wouldn’t want to cause that kind of severe damage. Right now he was just relived that this was over with, as the guards were taking him out of the cuffs.

There was no way Hijikata was going to be able to move on his own so once again he was dragged down the hallway by several guards. Surprisingly, when they reached his cell the guards actually bothered to lay him down gently on the ground. The small act of mercy was greatly appreciated by the dark haired man. They also set his shirts and jacket on the ground next to his head before leaving him alone.

Hijikata honestly wasn’t sure if he would be able to get up on his own. Instead of trying he just laid on his belly, trying to conserve strength for when Gintoki would come back. He was sure the guards would bring him back soon, then the two samurai would have to try and tend each other’s wounds. Hijikata could feel the blood seeping down his back, and the perm head was sure to have similar wounds in need of medical attention.

Except as the minutes passed by, Gintoki didn’t show. Hijikata strained his ears for the sound of footsteps but it was eerily quiet. Paranoia started to fester in the raven haired man. Where was Gintoki? Tatsuo had made it clear that they were receiving the same “surprise” so shouldn’t the other man be back now? Why was it taking so long? Had Gintoki antagonized the sadistic amanto again and ended up in deeper trouble?

As much as Hijikata wanted to blame his impatience on wanting Gintoki to patch him up, the truth was he was more worried for the other man than himself. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed since Hijikata had been dumped in the cell but in the quiet of his cell, alone, it felt like a life time. Finally he heard the shuffle of feet and grunts of the boar guards.

Even though it hurt, Hijikata pushed himself up just enough to be able to look down the hallway. Soon he was able to see a mass of guards and in the center, Gintoki, standing out bright white against the browns of the guards. However as he got closer it became clear that his white yukata which was hanging around his waist had a frightening amount of red on it. Logically Hijikata knew that it was just the contrast of colors that made it seem so bright, but that didn’t stop his heart from beating rapidly at the sight.

Much like they had with Hijikata, the guards brought the white haired man into the cell instead of throwing him in. They sat him down by Hijikata instead of laying him down on the ground though. From this angle the blued eyed samurai couldn’t see the extent of damage to Gintoki’s back but the stiff way he was holding himself, coupled with the amount of red soaking his yukata, was clue enough that the damage was severe.

Hijikata wasn’t sure what to say, but true to form Gintoki beat him to the punch by stating in a surprisingly even tone “you look like shit.”

Hijikata wanted to punch the idiot but unfortunately he was unable to move that much, instead he settled for a glare and responded “at least I don’t look like shit with a natural perm on top.”   

The resulting offended look and pout was enough to make him feel the slightest bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again everyone, I'm back! I wanted to thank everyone who commented on my last chapter. I also wanted to give a special thanks to Eniell for their wonderful comments on each chapter of my story! You guys have all been the best readers and your comments and kudos are the best motivation an author can ask for. I look forward to hearing from all of you. Also if you havent already seen the amazing fan art my roommate has done you should check out her Tumblr [EAAG](https://eroticartandgarbage.tumblr.com/tagged/gintama)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fic and it is not only Hijikata/Gintoki but also Alpha/Omega. What am I doing with my life? Anyway hope you enjoy my sad attempt at portraying such amazing characters as these two lovable idiots. Please let me know what you think! Kudos and comments always make people more inspired! I will try to update regularly.


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